Bobby Witt Jr. finishes third in AL MVP voting, behind Yordan Alvarez and Junior Caminero

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America placed Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. third in American League MVP Award voting for the third consecutive year, with Yordan Alvarez winning unanimously and Junior Caminero finishing second.

Witt received two second-place votes and 11 third-place votes and appeared on every ballot, landing somewhere between second and 10th. He totaled 188 points, beating out New York’s Cam Schlittler, who had won the AL Cy Young Award earlier that night.

Despite scoring fewer runs than the other finalists, Witt’s case centered on impact beyond traditional counting stats. He scored 94 runs in 2026, compared with Alvarez’s 105 and Caminero’s 100, as Kansas City ranked 22nd in MLB with 690 team runs and posted a.694 OPS with runners in scoring position, below the Astros and Rays.

On the basepaths, the Royals shortstop’s efficiency was a key differentiator. Baseball-Reference reported that Witt took an extra base on 66.7% of his opportunities, compared with 36% for Caminero and 22.9% for Alvarez, and he added 45 stolen bases, the second most in the AL. He also drew a career-high 67 walks and led qualified AL shortstops in batting average (.281), doubles (33), and slugging (.441).

Defensively and in overall value, Witt also checked boxes for MVP voters. He finished with +24 outs above average at shortstop, led Major Leaguers at the position, and despite his first career injured-list stint limiting him to 143 games, accumulated 7.0 fWAR, the best mark in the AL.