Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski and New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler have been named the unanimous winners of the 2026 Cy Young Awards for the National League and American League, respectively. According to CBS Sports, the tandem is the first duo to win the honor unanimously in both leagues in the same year since Justin Verlander and Sandy Alcantara in 2022, marking only the third time in Major League Baseball history that both winners were chosen unanimously.
Historic Pitching Dominance
Both pitchers achieved sub-2.00 ERAs during the 2026 season while striking out over 30 percent of opposing batters using high-velocity fastballs and expansive pitching repertoires. To contextualize their run prevention across different ballparks and league scoring environments, ERA+ provides an adjusted metric where 100 represents the league average. Misiorowski led all major league pitchers with a 232 ERA+, while Schlittler posted a 215 ERA+ to lead the American League.
Reaching an ERA+ above 200 over a qualifying workload is an exceptionally rare threshold. Excluding the shortened 60-game season in 2020, only 43 pitchers since 1900 have registered an ERA+ of 200 or higher, compared to 201 pitchers who have achieved a sub-2.00 ERA over the same period. CBS Sports reported that 2026 is just the sixth season in modern MLB history to feature multiple pitchers hitting the 200 ERA+ mark.
The previous instances of two pitchers recording a 200 ERA+ in the same year occurred in 2018 (Jacob deGrom and Blake Snell), 2015 (Jake Arrieta and Zack Greinke), 1997 (Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez), 1907 (Carl Lundgren and Jack Pfiester), and 1905 (Christy Mathewson and Ed Reulbach). The 2026 season represents only the third time both pitchers represented different leagues, and consequently the third time both Cy Young winners reached the 200 ERA+ benchmark in the same campaign.
Youthful Precedent Last Seen in 1905
The shared milestone is further highlighted by the ages of both award winners. Misiorowski performed his Cy Young season at age 24, while Schlittler completed his at age 25.
The only other season in modern baseball history to feature two pitchers age 25 or younger achieving an ERA+ of 200 or better was 1905. During that campaign 121 years ago, 24-year-old Christy Mathewson and 22-year-old rookie Ed Reulbach both eclipsed the mark, setting a historical baseline that went unmatched until Misiorowski and Schlittler completed their 2026 campaigns.
