How Close Are Twins' Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan in AL MVP and Cy Young Races?

Could the Twins have both the American League Most Valuable Player and Cy Young award winners this season? It's an extreme long shot...but not a total impossibility.

With Aaron Judge hurt and Shohei Ohtani on the Dodgers, the AL is going to have a new MVP for the first time since 2020. Byron Buxton, who is well on his way to a career year, is one of several players in the mix there. On the pitching side, Joe Ryan is hanging around in the Cy Young race as the ace and anchor of Minnesota's rotation.

Neither Buxton nor Ryan are favored to win those respective awards. But they're both in the hunt, with each player sitting exactly fifth in the current betting odds. If one or both can manage to go to another level in the second half of this season, they'll have a shot to claim the Twins' first major individual award since Joe Mauer was the AL MVP in 2009.

Buxton's 24 home runs put him one behind Yordan Alvarez for the AL lead. He's also sixth in the AL in runs scored, third in slugging percentage, fifth in OPS, and eighth in WAR. It's going to be tough to beat out the likes of Bobby Witt Jr., Alvarez, Ben Rice, and Nick Kurtz, but Buxton has a chance.

His path to do it, which obviously requires staying healthy all year, involves hitting around 50 homers (he's currently on pace for 49) and keeping his OPS firmly above .900. It might help if he can ratchet up his base-stealing pace (he only has seven swipes so far but hasn't been caught stealing in two years).

BYRON BUXTON GRAND SLAM

Buxton last 11 games

.356 BA
6 HR
12 RBIpic.twitter.com/r6qMchrpTM
— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) June 21, 2026

Blemishes on Buxton's resume include his .334 OBP and 40 RBI. Bizarrely, he's hit just .164 with a .611 OPS in 64 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. If he can start to deliver more frequently in those spots, his RBI numbers should improve. Lastly, for as great as Buxton has been this season, his chase and walk rates are very poor and may need to improve slightly if he's going to win an MVP.

Ryan has been a rock for the Twins' pitching staff this year. Through 16 starts and 87.1 innings, he has a 2.99 ERA with 99 strikeouts and 18 walks. He's sixth in the AL in ERA and Ks, third in WHIP, and fourth in opponent batting average. Fangraphs has him third in the AL in pitching WAR.

The favorite to win the AL Cy Young is the Yankees' Cam Schlittler, who has a 1.71 ERA and 109 strikeouts in just his second MLB season. Dylan Cease and Drew Rasmussen are also in the mix. Barring an absurd second half, Tarik Skubal has probably missed too much time due to injury to three-peat, which means it's an open race.

Ryan's going to need to really shine for the rest of this season to have a chance. He'll probably have to get his ERA into the mid-2s, so he can't have any blowup outings. He's also going to need Schlittler and the rest of his competition to cool off a bit. Like Buxton, he has a shot if he continues to perform at his current level or slightly above it. If Ryan doesn't get traded and helps the Twins make the playoffs, he'll have a case.

Joe Ryan, RIDICULOUS 80mph Sweeper. 😳 pic.twitter.com/Q2CwTh5PPZ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 27, 2025

The absolute dream scenario for the Twins, which probably has well below a 1 percent chance of happening, would be Buxton and Ryan becoming the first teammates to win MVP and Cy Young in the same year since the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera and Max Scherzer in 2013. Before that, the last duo to do it was Minnesota's own Justin Morneau and Johan Santana in 2006.

The Twins may be a few games below .500, but Buxton is giving fans a reason to tune in every night, and Ryan provides an extra incentive to watch every fifth game. To stay in the playoff picture, the Twins are going to need their two stars to continue to carry them this summer and beyond.

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