Twins Daily Awards 2026: Most Valuable Player

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

There was no prototypical team MVP this season. Essentially no one on the roster met the standard of putting together a campaign that was both exceptional and complete, and that sort of tells the story of this year's 77-win team. With that said, in Twins Daily's voting, there was a clear-cut choice: Luke Keaschall edged the field by a fairly healthy margin to earn our nod as the best and most impactful player on the 2026 Twins. 

We'll cover why shortly, but first let's take a look at the balloting results, and the cases for the other candidates who fell short.

Twins Daily 2026 MVP Results

1. Luke Keaschall (31 pts)
2. Byron Buxton (22 pts)
3. Taj Bradley (18 pts)
4. Kody Clemens (17)
5. Brooks Lee (8)

Also receiving votes: Joe Ryan (4), Ryan Jeffers (4), Josh Bell (1)

Within these results, you can see some indicators of different preferences and styles. Bell, Lee and Clemens excelled in the more traditional categories, ranking first, second and third respectively in RBIs, and also in the top four for home runs. These were the steadiest producers all year long. But it would be hard to describe any of their seasons as "exceptional" — none finished with an OPS+ above 110, or with even three Wins Above Replacement. 

On the flip side, you have a number of players who were very exceptional, but only for stretches of the season. Ryan and Jeffers played like All-Stars for much of the first half, but missed significant time with injuries and slumped into the finish line. 

Buxton was an even starker example of this dynamic, making his second consecutive All-Star team and playing at a borderline MVP-caliber level before his hip injury first sidelined him in late July. It was not pretty the rest of the way: .179/.304/.231 with no homers and one RBI in 46 plate appearances in August, then nothing in September. Still, his exemplary work up until that point was enough to make him runner-up in our voting. 

To me, the strongest case outside of Keaschall was Bradley, who I ranked No. 1 in my own personal ballot. His was healthy, he was a horse, and he was impactful: 31 starts, 178.1 IP, 3.82 FIP, 205 strikeouts. He led the team with 4.4 bWAR and the Twins went 18-13 with him on the mound. But I get that a 3.73 ERA doesn't exactly scream "elite," and also many people are reluctant to prioritize pitchers in MVP voting since they get their own award, which is fair.

So it feels like almost a process of elimination that elevates Keaschall to the top. With that said, I don't want to undersell the quality of his season, and I won't. Let's dig into the performance that made Keaschall deserving of our top award for the 2026 team.

Recovering From a Slow Start

Keaschall was drawing big buzz entering this season, coming off a rookie year that drew plenty of praise (including TD's Rookie of the Year nod). MLB Network's Matt Vasgersian, for example, named him as a preseason AL MVP candidate. But a cold start threw some chilly water on the Keaschall hype train.

 

The 23-year-old slumped through the first month, finishing April with a .217/.267/.275 slash line. Derek Shelton took it in stride. “The least of my concerns right now is Luke Keaschall,” he said in the early going. Smart man. 

Keaschall turned a corner right around the start of May and never looked back, slashing .301/.402/.446 with 24 doubles, four triples, nine homers and 13 steals in 489 plate appearances after the end of April. His offensive game was particularly potent in the second half; from July 1st through the end of the year, Keaschall ranked sixth in baseball with a .406 wOBA, trailing only Yordan Alvarez and Pete Alonso among AL hitters.

The recovery was enough to make Keaschall's overall numbers for the season quite strong. His 120 OPS+ was best for any Twins hitter with 450+ plate appearances, and his 3.0 fWAR led the club. 

 

Taking the Lead

The biggest development of Keaschall's season, from the team's perspective, was his entrenchment of the leadoff spot. He opened the year batting third, then got knocked down to the lower part of the order due to his early struggles. 

Despite Shelton's stated confidence, it took a long stretch of sustained excellent performance to convince the manager to shift Keaschall back toward the top of the lineup. On August 17th, Keaschall made his first career start in the leadoff spot, and from there, he didn't budge. With the exception of one late-season start in the two-hole behind leadoff man Walker Jenkins, Keaschall hit leadoff in every game after mid-August. 

It's tough to see him moving anywhere else. Keaschall is an ideal leadoff man, capable of taking good at-bats, hitting for average, drawing walks, and running the bases. He set a new franchise record getting hit by 23 pitches. His on-base percentage from May 1st onward (.402) ranked second only to Alvarez among AL hitters.

Keaschall is a natural atop the order. And his move there coincided with another one defensively that helped greatly bolster his overall value.

Finding a Defensive Home

One of the biggest factors working against Keaschall in this conversation, aside from the slow start, is his defensive impact. For much of the season, it was hugely negative. He spent the first half at second base and was among the worst fielders in the league there. In July the Twins tried shifting him to center and it was beyond ugly. But in mid-August, at almost the exact same time he switched to leading off, Keaschall relocated permanently to right field and immediately looked a lot better.

There were still some moments of inexperience on display — odd reads, questionable throws — but Keaschall was a reasonably effective right fielder at worst. Per Defensive Runs Saved, he was worth plus-1 runs in 450 innings there after posting a negative-4 in 630 innings at second.

 

The damage done by his glove in the first half can't be ignored, and in a stronger team MVP field it might have cost Keaschall the top spot. But again, there was no perfect player on this year's Twins. What excites me most is that down the stretch, he basically was that.

Bigger Things to Come?

Once Keaschall settled in as everyday leadoff hitter and right fielder, he was phenomenal. From August 17th through the end of the year he was a top-20 MLB player in fWAR. The power emergence was a particularly encouraging development: In August and September, Keaschall homered six times with 22 extra-base hits and a .524 slugging percentage. Through the end of July he had four home runs and a .344 SLG.

A guy who holds his own defensively while batting over .300 with elite on-base skills AND some power? That's not only a worthy team MVP, but a potential league MVP. We didn't see that player all year, but we consistently saw it in the second half and that's what really cemented Keaschall's case. 

Who's your pick for team MVP? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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[FlyingFinn]

The way he started the season, to be the Twins MVP is incredible!

[DJL44]

Taj Bradley and it isn’t particularly close. Buxton 2 and Jeffers 3. Clemens 4th. Keaschall was a disaster on defense for most of the season.

[DJL44]

Matt Wallner for LVP

[Twins GFP]

Here's hoping that he maintains, or even grows, instead of dropping off (Lewis, Wallner).

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

Taj Bradley and it isn’t particularly close. Buxton 2 and Jeffers 3. Clemens 4th. Keaschall was a disaster on defense for most of the season.

I agree that Bradley should get consideration! I agree Keaschall’s defense is a problem, to say the least………..3rd most effective offensive player in the A.L. for the last 3 months coupled with 3.0 WAR (inclusive of his defense being a negative with WAR) are too much of a big deal to ignore or discount.

To me …… Keaschall - Bradley - Clemens …… Bell.

AVAILABILITY, and the lack of with Buxton & Jeffers, is a big deal ……. having good numbers for 3 months & not playing much at all the other 3 months is not worthy to be in an MVP conversation. ……… same with Jeffers missing 2+ months. Bell had enough RBI and was available whenever called upon, essentially daily……..Bell helped win a bunch of games! Clemens hitting with power and playing 3-4 positions, as needed, gets him in the mix.

[Bracky]

I really like Luke. But have a hard time seeing Clemens and Bradley as being more deserving of MVP.

[DJL44]

15 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

AVAILABILITY, and the lack of with Buxton & Jeffers, is a big deal ……. having good numbers for 3 months & not playing much at all the other 3 months is not worthy to be in an MVP conversation.

When Buxton and Jeffers were in the lineup and hitting the Twins won. Without them, the Twins lost. Pretty compelling case for their value right there. Beats someone who showed up and was mediocre all season.

[killercarewoliva]

Josh Bell received one vote. I thought the object of the game was to score runs. now somebody will write back. well there's a lot more to it than just scoring runs. you have defense. he doesn't play defense. he put 96 runs on the board. I'm not sure but I think second to that was 81. most valuable player is Josh Bell and please sign him for next year because this team's not going to replace 96 runs batted in that easy.