Royals honor Witt Jr., Salvy and Wacha as BBWAA chapter votes team award winners for 2026

Kansas City Royals season awards for 2026 were announced Monday, with the team’s honorees chosen by the Kansas City chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Bobby Witt Jr. was voted Les Milgram Player of the Year, an award named for the late Kansas City businessman, community leader and Royals board member. It is the fifth straight season Witt Jr. has been recognized as the Royals’ Player of the Year, including unanimous selections in 2023 and 2024.

Witt Jr. finished the 2026 regular season slashing.281/.359/.441 across 143 games, with 94 runs, 33 doubles, 18 home runs, 54 RBI and 45 stolen bases. The Royals’ announcement also credited him with an.800 OPS and a 7.0 fWAR total that ranked second in Major League Baseball, trailing only Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Right-handed pitcher Michael Wacha received the Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year award. The Royals’ announcement listed his 2026 line as 9-10 with a 3.32 ERA in 32 starts, and said he led the American League in innings pitched and quality starts.

Salvador Perez was voted the Joe Burke Special Achievement Award winner, an honor the Royals describe as recognizing an unsung impact beyond standard expectations. Perez was noted as a two-time winner of the award, also winning it in 2022, and the team’s announcement highlighted that the award is named for Joe Burke, a Royals Hall of Famer who served as general manager and president across 20 years with the club.