Predicting AL and NL Rookie of the Year candidates for 2026

We've reached the final week of the 2025 MLB regular season, and for many teams, the focus remains squarely on the hunt for a playoff spot — a hunt that seemingly gets more chaotic with each passing day. But not everyone in the league can be so lucky; plenty of teams and fan bases have already turned the page to 2026, in hopes that next year might turn out a bit better than this one.

So let's indulge in that optimism for a little bit. It seems like every year brings us a fresh crop of young talent ready to take the league by storm and unconcerned about things like "learning curves" or "adjusting to the best talent on the planet". Just this year, the Rookie of the Year races in both the AL and NL have given us guys who might be MVP candidates in 12 months time.

Which begs the question: Who's got next? This season has given us a little bit of a sneak peak at some players who might be ready to rock as rookies as soon as next spring. Here are three names in both the American and National Leagues to look out for as early Rookie of the Year frontrunners.

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Early NL Rookie of the Year frontrunners for 2026

1. SP Nolan McLean, New York Mets

Heck, maybe we should just go ahead and give him the trophy this year to save ourselves the trouble. OK, OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's also a sign of just how awesome McLean has been for the Mets since New York turned to him out of sheer desperation last month.

The righty has pitched to a cool 1.27 ERA in seven MLB starts to date, striking out 46 batters in 42.2 innings. For as bad as this recent Mets collapse has been, it would be so much worse if McLean didn't step into the team's rotation and immediately start pitching like an ace. And his ability to both miss bats and churn out ground balls when he does allow contact sure bodes well for a big follow-up season in 2026.

There's an outside chance follow-up won't be eligible for ROY honors; McLean is slated to make one more start this week, and while he'd need to throw 7.1 innings to clear the 50-inning threshold for rookie eligibility, that's not entirely out of the question based on how good he's been. If he enters 2026 as a rookie, though, he's the easy early favorite to take home the hardware.

2. INF JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals

While McLean has already shown he has the chops to be a star at the big-league level, we've still yet to see Wetherholt make his MLB debut (much to the consternation of Cardinals fans everywhere who were hoping for at least one silver lining amid another lost season). And yet, it's hard not to feel confident that Wetherholt will be right in contention for this award in 12 months' time.

The No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft has simply been that good since turning pro, posting a .931 OPS across two levels this season — including a scorching .314/.416/.562 line at Triple-A. He can hit for average, he can hit for power, he can run and he can pick it just fine at pretty much any spot on the infield. He is, in short, one of the most well-rounded players in the Minors, and he'd no doubt be in St. Louis already if the team didn't already have a crowsed infield picture (and didn't want to make sure he held on to rookie eligibility in 2026).

3. OF Owen Caissie, Chicago Cubs

Maybe this feels like a reach, but Caissie sure looked the part during his brief cameo in Chicago earlier this summer. He just needs the opportunity for regular MLB playing time, and whether on the North Side or elsewhere, he should get it in 2026.

If the Cubs manage to bring Kyle Tucker back in free agency, in addition to Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki, it's hard to imagine the team not moving Caissie in order to address needs elsewhere. He's too good and too valuable, and he serves no purpose at Triple-A anymore. And if the Cubs do lose Tucker to the open market, well, then Caissie stands to enter next season as the everyday right fielder on a team with playoff aspirations.

The spotlight and the opportunity will be there, and while he didn't make nearly enough contact in his first taste of the Majors this year, the flashes he showed when he did were plenty to dream on. There's real 30-homer pop here with a tweak or two.

Honorable mentions: INF Konnor Griffin/RHP Bubba Chandler, Pittsburgh Pirates; OF Carson Benge, New York Mets

Early AL Rookie of the Year frontrunners for 2026

1. RHP Trey Yesavage, Toronto Blue Jays

Really, I could just drop some highlights from Yesavage's first career MLB start and leave it at that.

Yesavage hit a bit of adversity in his second outing, allowing five runs while walking three in just four innings against the Kansas City Royals, in case you needed a reminder that Major League hitters are really, really good. But still: Good luck to anyone tasked with trying to deal what already might be the nastiest splitter in baseball.

Yesavage tore through the Minors en route to becoming one of the best pitching prospects in the sport, and with Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer and potentially Shane Bieber hitting free agency this winter, the Jays are sure to have a rotation spot open for him next year. The opportunity is here, the stuff is absolutely here and the righty looks like he's in store for a monster first full season.

2. C/DH Samuel Basallo, Baltimore Orioles

There are still plenty of warts in Basallo's game. His uber-aggressive approach at the plate has been exposed a bit in his first taste of MLB pitching, and it's still unclear whether he can actually stick at catcher long term. But man: When he gets his barrel on the ball, he does some serious damage.

Whether an Adley Rutschman trade comes to pass or not, Basallo figures to be getting everyday at-bats for the Orioles in 2026. He's simply too dangerous not to, and he has nothing left to prove in the Minors.

Granted, he's slashed .182/.243/.364 over his first 28 games in the Majors, and it's possible that he doesn't make the requisite adjustments to how pitchers are treating him right now (read: lots of offspeed stuff out of the zone). But his track record suggests he'll be just fine over the long haul, and a 30-homer season for a playoff contender is well within the realm of possibility here.

3. LHP Payton Tolle, Boston Red Sox

Boston might well have had the Rookie of the Year in 2025 if Roman Anthony hadn't gone down with an oblique injury. And they stand a pretty good chance of taking home the trophy again next season, with several different candidates who could break out.

We could've focused on Tolle's fellow lefty, Connelly Early, who's been sensational over his first three starts in Boston. With all due respect to Early, though, Tolle's upside is just too tantalizing to ignore.

Of course, he'll need to hone his command in order to tap into all of that upside. But his meteoric ascent through the Minors was no fluke, and his fastball is already a lethal weapon at the big-league level. The Red Sox will be in desperate need of someone to slot in behind Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello in next year's rotation, and Tolle's got tools that this new and improved pitching development team under Craig Brelsow will know what to do with.

Honorable mention: SS Kevin McGonigle, Detroit Tigers; LHP Connelly Early, Boston Red Sox; C/DH Carter Jensen, Kansas City Royals