The Best MLB Player ESPY 2026 award goes to a vote at the ESPYS on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, and the ballot is a four-name reunion of the players who defined the 2025 season: Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh and Paul Skenes. Ohtani has won this ESPY five years running and is the runaway favorite on Kalshi to make it six straight. The live board above ranks the current cross-platform prices on every nominee.
The ESPYS hand out one trophy a year for the best player in Major League Baseball, and for five straight seasons that trophy has gone to Shohei Ohtani. The 2026 ballot puts him in a room with the three men who defined the 2025 season alongside him: reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge, record-setting Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh, and unanimous National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes. Four nominees, one award, decided the night of July 15, 2026.
The Best MLB Player ESPY is a fan-voted honor ESPN presents to the standout of the just-completed season, and 2025 handed voters four genuinely historic resumes. Ohtani is the runaway favorite on Kalshi, and the case is obvious. He won the 2025 National League MVP unanimously, his fourth MVP and second in a row with the Dodgers, hitting 55 home runs with a .282 average, a .392 on-base and a .622 slugging while returning to the mound for a 2.87 ERA across 14 starts. No one else in the sport does both, and he is also up for the 2026 ESPYS Best Athlete, Men's award.
Aaron Judge is the closest thing to a challenger. The Yankees slugger won the 2025 AL MVP, his third MVP and second straight, and cleared 50 home runs for the fourth time in his career with 53. In most years Judge is the headliner. This is not most years.
Cal Raleigh authored the loudest individual season of the four. The Seattle catcher hit 60 home runs, the most ever by a catcher, the most ever by a switch-hitter, and a Mariners franchise record, becoming just the seventh player in history to reach 60 in a season. He finished second to Judge in the AL MVP vote.
Paul Skenes is the pitcher's entry. The Pirates ace won the NL Cy Young unanimously in only his second season, leading MLB with a 1.97 ERA and becoming the first qualified pitcher under 2.00 since Justin Verlander in 2022. An ESPY win for a starting pitcher is rare, which is the hill Skenes has to climb.
The Best MLB Player ESPY has become an Ohtani monopoly. He has won it five years running: in 2021, 2022 and 2023 as a Los Angeles Angel, then in 2024 and 2025 after signing with the Dodgers. The award was not handed out in 2020 during the pandemic-shortened calendar. Before Ohtani's run, Milwaukee outfielder Christian Yelich took the 2019 award on the strength of his NL MVP season, and Mike Trout won back-to-back trophies in 2017 and 2018 as the face of the Angels. A sixth straight Ohtani win in 2026 would stretch the longest streak the category has seen, while a win by Judge, Raleigh or Skenes would put the first new name on the trophy since 2019.
This market resolves the night of Wednesday, July 15, 2026, when the ESPYS air on ABC and the Best MLB Player winner is announced on the broadcast. The contract for the nominee who wins settles to Yes at 100c and every other nominee settles to No at 0c. The award reflects a vote, not a stat line, so it is decided by ESPN's voting process rather than any single game or box score. If the ceremony is postponed or the category is not presented, the market resolves under each platform's event-cancellation rules.
The 2026 ESPYS run a full slate of player awards worth tracking alongside this one. See the 2026 ESPYS Best NFL Player odds, the 2026 ESPYS Best NBA Player market, and the 2026 ESPYS Best NHL Player board for the other league MVP-style races. The 2026 ESPYS Best Team odds is the marquee category, and the 2026 ESPYS Best Athlete, Women's market tracks the top individual honor on the women's side. Browse more entertainment prediction markets for the rest of the awards-season board.
Resolves to the player named Best MLB Player at the 2026 ESPYS, presented on the ABC broadcast the night of Wednesday, July 15, 2026. The winning nominee's contract settles to Yes at 100c and every other nominee settles to No at 0c. The outcome is determined by ESPN's ESPY voting process, not by any on-field result. If the ceremony is postponed past the resolution window, the category is not presented, or the result is otherwise voided, the market resolves under each platform's event-cancellation and settlement rules.
The four nominees are Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh and Paul Skenes. Ohtani is the reigning five-time winner, Judge won the 2025 AL MVP, Raleigh hit 60 home runs, and Skenes won the NL Cy Young.
The award is announced at the ESPYS on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, on ABC, and the market resolves that night. The board is listed on both Kalshi and Polymarket.
As of July 11, 2026, Shohei Ohtani is the runaway favorite on Kalshi at 99c. He is chasing a sixth straight Best MLB Player ESPY after winning the last five in a row.
Yes. Shohei Ohtani has won it five years running from 2021 through 2025, and Mike Trout won back-to-back awards in 2017 and 2018. The category was not presented in 2020.
Watch the July 15, 2026 ESPYS telecast on ABC to see whether voters break Ohtani's five-year streak for Judge, Raleigh or Skenes. The live board above tracks the current price on every nominee up to the announcement.