2026 BBWAA Hall of Fame Ballot Announced

(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – A player who took both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors, a former Cy Young Award winner, a multiple Gold Glove Award and Silver Slugger Award winner and three postseason standouts are among a group of 12 new candidates appearing on the 2026 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot that is being mailed this week to more than 400 voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Outfielders Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp, infielders Howie Kendrick and Daniel Murphy and pitchers Cole Hamels and Rick Porcello will join 15 holdovers from the 2025 balloting in which outfielder Ichiro Suzuki and pitchers CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected to the Hall of Fame. Candidates must be named on 75 percent of ballots cast by selected BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years of MLB coverage to gain election and be part of Induction Weekend July 24-27, 2026 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Achieving the threshold in the previous election were Ichiro with 393 votes, which accounted for 99.7 percent (all but one) of the electorate, Sabathia with 342 votes (86.8) and Wagner with 325 (82.5). The only other players to gain mention on more than half the ballots were outfielders Carlos Beltrán with 277 (70.3) and Andruw Jones with 261 (66.2).

Players may remain on the ballot for up to 10 years provided they receive at least five percent of the vote. This year will mark the last season on the ballot for outfielder Manny Ramírez. Other holdovers from last year’s ballot in addition to Beltrán, Jones and Ramírez are pitchers Mark Buehrle, Félix Hernández, Andy Pettitte and Francisco Rodríguez; infielders Dustin Pedroia, Álex Rodríguez, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Omar Vizquel and David Wright; and outfielders Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter.

Braun, the National League MVP in 2011, played his entire major league career with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was the NL winner of the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award in 2007 and went on to lead the league in extra base hits three times, slugging percentage and on-base average plus slugging (OPS) twice apiece and hits, runs, home runs and total bases once each. The six-time All-Star won the Silver Slugger Award five times, topped .300 in batting average in six seasons with five seasons of 100 or more runs batted in and four years scoring 100 or more runs. Braun led NL left fielders in putouts four times and batted .330 with 11 doubles and 16 RBI in 27 postseason games.

Kemp was the runner-up to Braun in the 2011 NL MVP voting. That season he led the league in home runs, RBI, runs scored, total bases and Wins Above Replacement for position players and also finished one home run short of a 40-homer/40-stolen base season. Over 15 seasons with the Dodgers, Padres, Braves, Reds and Rockies, Kemp won two Gold Glove Awards and two Silver Slugger Awards. He reached 100 RBI four times, 30 steals three times and 300 total bases twice and topped center fielders in assists three times.

Kendrick was a .300 hitter in four full seasons over a 15-year career with the Angels, Dodgers, Phillies and Nationals. His shining hour came during the 2019 postseason. Kendrick was named the MVP of the Nationals’ NL Championship Series victory over the Cardinals. His seventh-inning home run in Game 7 of the World Series turned a 2-1 Washington deficit into a 3-2 lead that proved the difference in the Nats’ Series victory over the Astros.

Murphy was also a NLCS MVP, with the Mets in their pennant-winning season of 2015 for batting .529 with four home runs and six RBI in their sweep of the Cubs. He slugged seven home runs in his first nine postseason games that year. With the Nationals in 2016 and ’17, Murphy finished second in the batting race both years. The .296 career hitter, who also played for the Cubs and the Rockies, was a three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner.

Hamels was the MVP of both the NLCS and World Series in 2008 for the championship Phillies and posted a 7-6 record with a 3.41 earned run average in 17 career appearances (16 starts) in 13 postseason series. The left-hander, who also pitched for the Rangers, Cubs and Braves, was a four-time All-Star who had eight seasons of 200 or more innings and pitched a no-hitter July 25, 2015 for the Phillies against the Cubs.

Porcello was 22-4 with a 3.15 ERA for the Red Sox in winning the 2016 American League Cy Young Award and 17-7 two years later for a Boston club that won the World Series. He had double-digit victory totals in 10 of his 12 seasons, which also included time with the Tigers and Mets.

Also new to the ballot are pitcher Gio González, designated hitter-infielder Edwin Encarnación, outfielder-third baseman Alex Gordon and outfielders Shin-Soo Choo, Nick Markakis and Hunter Pence.

González pitched in 13 seasons for the Athletics, Nationals, Brewers and White Sox and led the majors in victories with 21 in 2012. Encarnación totaled 424 home runs among his 1,832 hits in a 16-year career with the Reds, Blue Jays, Indians, Mariners, Yankees and White Sox.

Gordon, who spent all 14 of his seasons with the Royals, including their championship year of 2015, topped the majors with 51 doubles in 2012, one of six seasons of 30-plus two-base hits. He led AL left fielders in putouts five times, fielding percentage four times and assists three times in winning eight Gold Gloves.

Choo hit over .300 three times and topped .400 in on-base percentage twice during 16 seasons with the Mariners, Indians, Reds and Rangers. Markakis hit .288 with 2,388 hits over 15 seasons with the Orioles and Braves and led all right fielders in fielding percentage seven times. His .9938 career figure is the major league record at that position. Pence, a .279 hitter in 14 years for the Astros, Phillies, Giants and Rangers, batted .390 with one home run and six RBI in his 11 World Series games for San Francisco’s championship teams of 2012 and 2014.

Voters must return ballots by a Dec. 31 postmark. Votes are counted jointly by BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O’Connell and Ernst & Young partner Mark Moran. Results will be announced by Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, live on MLB Network.

The ballot: Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Ryan Braun, Mark Buehrle, Shin-Soo Choo, Edwin Encarnación, Gio González, Alex Gordon, Cole Hamels, Félix Hernández, Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones, Matt Kemp, Howie Kendrick, Nick Markakis, Daniel Murphy, Dustin Pedroia, Hunter Pence, Andy Pettitte, Rick Porcello, Manny Ramírez, Álex Rodríguez, Francisco Rodríguez, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Omar Vizquel, David Wright.