Comeback Player of the Year 2026: Alvarez’s +4.9 NUT Swing Leads

Comeback Player of the Year 2026 by NUT

Yordan Alvarez is the 2026 Comeback Player of the Year favorite by NUT: he went from +0.3 season NUT in 48 games in 2025 to +5.2 in 158 games in 2026, a +4.9 swing and the biggest in MLB. Values are final 2026 regular-season NUT as of November 2.

NUT is one number for production against league average, built on the advanced hitting and pitching stats analysts trust. Defense is left out. A rise in NUT measures production, not the injury a player came back from, so it is a starting point for this award and not a verdict.

Biggest Rises Among Hitters

Hitters with at least 100 plate appearances in both seasons, ordered by the size of the rise. A player who missed all of 2025 has no starting value and is not listed.

Alvarez played 48 games in 2025. Crow-Armstrong played 157 that year, so his rise is a breakout and not a comeback, and he is a leader in the NL MVP race instead.

Biggest Rises Among Pitchers

Pitchers with at least 25 innings in both seasons.

The Players Choice Winners by NUT

Players voted Yordan Alvarez the AL Comeback Player over Gerrit Cole and Mike Trout, and Zack Wheelerthe NL winner after he returned from a blood clot. NUT agrees on Alvarez and not on the size of Wheeler’s year:

MLB’s own Comeback Player of the Year award is voted on by the 30 club beat reporters from MLB.com and had not been announced as of November 2. Sort every player by season NUT.

Quick Answers