Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle and Cincinnati Reds infielder Sal Stewart were named the American League and National League Rookie of the Year for 2026 on Monday night, November 9, opening baseball’s awards week with two clear winners. McGonigle received 28 of 30 first-place votes in the American League balloting, and Stewart received 20 of 30 in the National League, in voting conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, according to the Field Level Media report of the announcement.
Both winners were also All-Stars in their rookie seasons, and both awards carry a team prize as well as a personal one. Cleveland Guardians left-hander Parker Messick and Boston Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle finished second and third in the American League, while New York Mets outfielder Carson Benge, with seven first-place votes, and St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt, with three, followed Stewart in the National League.
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McGonigle Runs Away With The American League Vote
McGonigle announced himself on the first day of the season, collecting four hits and driving in two runs on Opening Day in a Tigers road win over the San Diego Padres. He never really slowed down. In 156 games and 707 plate appearances he batted .278 with 18 home runs, 72 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases, and his 168 hits led all American League rookies.
The award makes him the first Detroit player to win Rookie of the Year since pitcher Michael Fulmer in 2016, the first Tigers infielder to win it since Lou Whitaker in 1978, and only the sixth Tiger in franchise history to take the honour, joining a list that includes Harvey Kuenn, Mark Fidrych, Whitaker, Justin Verlander and Fulmer. He was named an American League All-Star in a game held in Philadelphia, close to his hometown, a fitting midpoint for a season that started with a four-hit debut and ended with 204 points in the balloting.
On the days you are tired, the days you need to rest, you have got to go out, lace the cleats up and go out for the guys in the clubhouse and this organization.
That durability, as much as the hit total, is what separated McGonigle in a strong rookie class. Messick went 12-9 with a 2.56 earned run average for Cleveland and took the other two first-place votes, and Tolle gave Boston a third high-end young arm in the top three. The voters still made it a runaway, because McGonigle was in the lineup nearly every day, producing at a premium infield position for a full season.
Stewart Plays Every Single Game
Stewart’s case was built on power and availability. The 22-year-old first baseman and third baseman played in all 162 games for Cincinnati, batted .263 with 32 home runs and 112 runs batted in, finished second in the National League in runs batted in and eighth in home runs, and led all National League rookies in home runs. He had shown the outline of this season in a late call-up with the Reds in 2025, then delivered the complete version of it in 2026.
Being available for your teammates every single day, that is something that kind of goes unnoticed at times.
Stewart is the ninth Reds player to win the award and the first since Jonathan India in 2021, joining a Cincinnati lineage that runs through Frank Robinson, Pete Rose and Johnny Bench. He finished with 170 points and was the only National League candidate named on every ballot, ahead of Benge at 107 points and Wetherholt at 99. A rookie who plays every game, hits 32 home runs and drives in 112 runs is not a development story. He is already a middle-of-the-order fixture, and the Reds now build their lineup planning around him.
A Draft Pick Comes With Each Award
The honours pay the clubs as well as the players. Under the league’s Prospect Promotion Incentive, Detroit and Cincinnati will each receive an additional draft selection after the first round of the 2027 draft, a mechanism designed to reward teams that promote top prospects when they are ready instead of holding them in the minor leagues to gain an extra year of contractual control.
That detail matters to how these awards should be read. Both organizations trusted a young infielder with a full season, and both were rewarded twice, once in the standings with an All-Star season and once in the draft room next summer. In an offseason when front offices are gathering in Las Vegas for the general managers meetings from November 10 to 12, with the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire on December 1, the rookie awards are also a reminder that the cheapest route to a star season is still a prospect who arrives ready.
Awards Week Rolls On
The Rookie of the Year announcement is the first of four award reveals this week. Manager of the Year follows on Tuesday, November 10, the Cy Young Awards come on Wednesday, and the Most Valuable Player awards close the week. The ballots were cast before the postseason began, so Monday’s results judge the regular season only, which is why a 162-game body of work like Stewart’s and a 156-game one like McGonigle’s carried the day.
For Detroit and Cincinnati, the next step is the harder one: turning a rookie season into a standard. McGonigle is 22, Stewart is 22, and both clubs now hold a young infielder who has already handled a full major league season, an All-Star selection and a national award. That is the foundation every front office in Las Vegas this week is trying to buy, and the Tigers and Reds already have it in house.
