Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers and Sal Stewart of the Reds were named the 2026 Rookies of the Year in their respective leagues on Monday night as part of the BBWAA's awards week. McGonigle earned 28 of 30 first-place votes, beating out the Guardians' Parker Messick and the Red Sox's Payton Tolle. Stewart, meanwhile, beat the Mets' Carson Benge and the Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt.

Because McGonigle and Stewart were both with the major-league team for long enough to earn a full year of service time, the Tigers and Reds will each receive a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick in the 2027 MLB Draft. 

The annual awards, which also include Manager of the Year, Reliever of the Year, Cy Young and MVP, are voted on by 30 members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (that's two per MLB city in each league). Votes were submitted before the beginning of the playoffs, meaning that only regular-season contributions are taken into account.

National League: Sal Stewart, Reds

Stewart won the battle of Old School stats vs. New School stats here. Though he only posted 2.0 WAR, he had 32 home runs and 111 RBI, putting him in rarefied air for a rookie. He's one of just 15 rookies ever with at least 30 homers and 100 RBI. The only names from that list to not win the award either faced another player from the list or played before Rookie of the Year was awarded. Everyone else has taken home the hardware, just as Stewart did Monday evening.

Overall, Stewart appeared in all 162 games, hitting .263/.330/.457 (117 OPS+) with 25 doubles, 32 homers, 112 RBI, 87 runs and 15 steals. 

Stewart earned 20 of the 30 available first-place votes.

Carson Benge of the Mets finished second and JJ Wetherholt of the Cardinals finished in third place. Benge, the 2024 first-rounder, made the team out of spring training and hit .282/.346/.430 with 20 home runs, 22 steals and 4.3 WAR. Defensive metrics love Wetherholt and helped push him to 4.5 WAR in 139 games. He hit .242/.339/.365 with 17 homers, 14 steals and 89 runs.

Stewart joins the following Reds as Rookie of the Year winners: 

• Jonathan India, 2021
• Scott Williamson, 1999
• Chris Sabo, 1988
• Pat Zachry, 1976
• Johnny Bench, 1968
• Tommy Helms, 1966
• Pete Rose, 1963
• Frank Robinson, 1956

American League: Kevin McGonigle, Tigers

The honor for McGonigle completes a stellar year for the former first-round draft pick. He broke camp with the Tigers and was productive from the get-go. He ended up hitting .278/.376/.430 (126 OPS+) with 28 doubles, five triples, 18 home runs, 72 RBI, 97 runs, 12 steals and 7.1 WAR, the latter good enough for the AL lead among position players. He played great defense, ran the bases well and was an All-Star. He nearly walked (95) as much as he struck out (100), too. Not much more could've been asked of the Pennsylvania native who played most of the season at age 21, and he's a well-deserving Rookie of the Year.

A few weeks after he debuted, he and the team agreed to an eight-year, $150 million extension.

McGonigle won in a blowout, getting 28 of the 30 available first-place votes, scoring 204 of a possible 210 points.

He joins the following players who have won the award with the Tigers: 

• Michael Fulmer, 2016
• Justin Verlander, 2006
• Lou Whitaker, 1978
• Mark Fidrych, 1976
• Harvey Kuenn, 1953

Parker Messick of the Guardians finishes second after going 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 193 strikeouts in 186 ⅓ innings; he is also a top-three finalist for the Cy Young award. Red Sox starter Payton Tolle finishes third after going 9-6 with a 3.03 ERA (135 ERA+), 1.10 WHIP and 171 strikeouts in 148 ⅔ innings.