League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award

The League Championship Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players deemed to have the most impact on their teams' performances in each of the two respective League Championship Series that comprise the penultimate round of the MLB postseason. The award is given separately for a player in both the American League Championship Series and the National League Championship Series.^[1] It has been presented in the National League (NL) since 1977, and in the American League (AL) since 1980.^[2] Dusty Baker won the inaugural award in 1977 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Frank White won the first AL award in 1980 with the Kansas City Royals. Twelve LCS MVP winners have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Roberto Alomar, George Brett, Dennis Eckersley, Rickey Henderson, David Ortiz, Kirby Puckett, CC Sabathia, Ozzie Smith, Mariano Rivera, Iván Rodríguez, John Smoltz, and Willie Stargell.

League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award

Sport	Baseball
League	Major League Baseball
Awarded for	Annual most valuable players of the two League Championship Series
Country	United States, Canada
Presented by	American League, National League
History
First award	1977 (NL), 1980 (AL)
Most recent	Giancarlo Stanton (AL) Tommy Edman (NL)

Madison Bumgarner, the 2014 National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player, won both this award and the World Series MVP in the same season.

Three players have won the award twice: Steve Garvey (1978, 1984), Dave Stewart (1990, 1993), and Orel Hershiser (1988, 1995). Incidentally, all three of these players won their two awards with two different teams. Nine players have gone on to win the World Series MVP Award in the same season in which they won the LCS MVP—eight from the NL and one from the AL. Three players have won while playing for the losing team in the series: Fred Lynn played for the 1982 California Angels;^[3] Mike Scott pitched for the 1986 Houston Astros;^[4] and Jeffrey Leonard played for the 1987 San Francisco Giants.^[5] Two players have shared the award in the same year three times, all in the NL; Rob Dibble and Randy Myers for the 1990 Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago Cubs' Jon Lester and Javier Báez in 2016, and Chris Taylor and Justin Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017.

Nelson Cruz won the award in the 2011 ALCS after hitting 6 home runs in the series. Adolis García won the award after having 15 RBIs during the 2023 ALCS. Adam Kennedy won the 2002 ALCS MVP when he hit 3 home runs in 1 game;^[6] he had hit 7 during the regular season and hit 80 in his 14-year career.^[7] From the pitcher's mound, Steve Avery threw 16+1⁄3 innings without giving up a run in the 1991 NLCS,^[8] and John Smoltz amassed 19 strikeouts the following year.^[9] Liván Hernández won the 1997 NLCS MVP after winning his only start and earning a win out of the bullpen in relief; he struck out 16 in 10+2⁄3 innings. Daniel Murphy won the 2015 NLCS MVP after hitting home runs in six consecutive games (including the final two games of the preceding division series), setting a major league record for consecutive postseason games with a home run.^[10]

Liván Hernández (1997, NL) and his half-brother Orlando Hernández (1999, AL) are the only family pair to have won the award.^[11] The only rookies to have won the award are Mike Boddicker (1983, AL), Liván Hernández (1997, NL), Michael Wacha (2013, NL), Randy Arozarena (2020, AL) and Jeremy Peña (2022, AL).^[12][13]

Key

Year	Links to the article about that corresponding ALCS or NLCS
†	Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
*	Indicates that the player won the World Series MVP Award the same year
§	Indicates losing team in the series
^	Indicates multiple award winners in the same year
(#)	Indicates number of times winning League Championship Series MVP at that point (if he won multiple times)

American League winners

Giancarlo Stanton (2024 ALCS MVP)

Adolis García (2023 ALCS MVP)

Jeremy Peña (2022 ALCS MVP)

Yordan Alvarez (2021 ALCS MVP)

Randy Arozarena (2020 ALCS MVP)

Year	Player	Team	Position	Selected statistics	Ref
1980	Frank White	Kansas City Royals	Second baseman	.545 batting average 1 home run 3 runs batted in	[14]
1981	Graig Nettles	New York Yankees	Third baseman	.500 batting average 3 extra-base hits 9 runs batted in	[15]
1982	Fred Lynn	California Angels§	Outfielder	.611 batting average 11 hits 5 runs batted in	[16]
1983	Mike Boddicker	Baltimore Orioles	Starting pitcher	1–0 record over 1 start; 1 shutout 9 scoreless innings pitched 14 strikeouts	[17]
1984	Kirk Gibson	Detroit Tigers	Outfielder	.417 batting average 1 home run 2 runs batted in	[18]
1985	George Brett†	Kansas City Royals	Third baseman	.348 batting average 3 home runs 5 runs batted in	[19]
1986	Marty Barrett	Boston Red Sox	Second baseman	.367 batting average 11 hits 5 runs batted in	[20]
1987	Gary Gaetti	Minnesota Twins	Third baseman	.300 batting average 2 home runs 5 runs batted in	[21]
1988	Dennis Eckersley†	Oakland Athletics	Relief pitcher	4 saves over 4 appearances 6 scoreless innings pitched 5 strikeouts	[22]
1989	Rickey Henderson†	Oakland Athletics	Outfielder	.400 batting average 2 home runs 8 stolen bases	[23]
1990	Dave Stewart	Oakland Athletics	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 2 runs allowed over 16 innings 0.63 WHIP	[24]
1991	Kirby Puckett†	Minnesota Twins	Outfielder	.429 batting average 2 home runs 5 runs batted in	[25]
1992	Roberto Alomar†	Toronto Blue Jays	Second baseman	.423 batting average 2 home runs 4 runs batted in	[26]
1993	Dave Stewart (2)	Toronto Blue Jays	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 3 runs allowed over 13+1⁄3 innings 8 strikeouts	[27]
1994	Series cancelled due to player's strike				[28]
1995	Orel Hershiser (2)	Cleveland Indians	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 2 earned runs allowed over 14 innings 15 strikeouts	[29]
1996	Bernie Williams	New York Yankees	Outfielder	.474 batting average 2 home runs 6 runs batted in	[30]
1997	Marquis Grissom	Cleveland Indians	Outfielder	Game-winning home run in 8th inning of Game 2 6 hits 3 stolen bases	[31]
1998	David Wells	New York Yankees	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 5 runs allowed over 15+2⁄3 innings 18 strikeouts	[32]
1999	Orlando Hernández	New York Yankees	Starting pitcher	1–0 record over 2 games started 3 earned runs allowed over 15 innings 13 strikeouts	[33]
2000	David Justice	New York Yankees	Outfielder	.824 OPS 2 home runs 8 runs batted in	[34]
2001	Andy Pettitte	New York Yankees	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 4 runs allowed over 14+1⁄3 innings 8 strikeouts	[35]
2002	Adam Kennedy	Anaheim Angels	Second baseman	.357 batting average 3 home runs 5 runs batted in	[6]
2003	Mariano Rivera†	New York Yankees	Relief pitcher	1 win and 2 saves over 4 appearances 1 run allowed over 8 innings 6 strikeouts	[36]
2004	David Ortiz†	Boston Red Sox	Designated hitter	.387 batting average 3 home runs 11 runs batted in	[37]
2005	Paul Konerko	Chicago White Sox	First baseman	.286 batting average 2 home runs 7 runs batted in	[38]
2006	Plácido Polanco	Detroit Tigers	Second baseman	.529 batting average 9 hits 2 runs batted in	[39]
2007	Josh Beckett	Boston Red Sox	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 3 runs allowed over 14 innings 18 strikeouts	[40]
2008	Matt Garza	Tampa Bay Rays	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 2 runs allowed over 13 innings 14 strikeouts	[41]
2009	CC Sabathia†	New York Yankees	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 2 runs allowed over 16 innings 12 strikeouts	[42]
2010	Josh Hamilton	Texas Rangers	Outfielder	.350 batting average 4 home runs 7 runs batted in	[43]
2011	Nelson Cruz	Texas Rangers	Outfielder	.364 batting average 6 home runs 13 runs batted in	[44]
2012	Delmon Young	Detroit Tigers	Designated hitter	.353 batting average 2 home runs 5 runs batted in	[45]
2013	Koji Uehara	Boston Red Sox	Relief pitcher	1 win and 3 saves over 5 appearances 6 scoreless innings pitched 9 strikeouts	[46]
2014	Lorenzo Cain	Kansas City Royals	Outfielder	.533 batting average 5 runs scored 8 hits	[47]
2015	Alcides Escobar	Kansas City Royals	Shortstop	.478 batting average 11 hits 6 runs scored	[48]
2016	Andrew Miller	Cleveland Indians	Relief pitcher	1 save in 4 appearances 0 runs allowed over 7+2⁄3 innings 14 strikeouts	[49]
2017	Justin Verlander	Houston Astros	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started; 1 complete game 1 run allowed over 16 innings 21 strikeouts	[50]
2018	Jackie Bradley Jr.	Boston Red Sox	Center fielder	9 runs batted in 2 home runs 1.067 OPS	[51]
2019	Jose Altuve	Houston Astros	Second baseman	Series-winning walk-off home run .348 batting average 6 runs scored / 3 runs batted in	[52]
2020	Randy Arozarena	Tampa Bay Rays	Outfielder	.321 batting average 4 home runs 1.152 OPS	[53]
2021	Yordan Alvarez	Houston Astros	Designated hitter	.522 batting average 7 runs scored / 6 runs batted in 1.408 OPS	[54]
2022*	Jeremy Peña	Houston Astros	Shortstop	.353 batting average 7 runs scored / 5 runs batted in .991 OPS	[55]
2023	Adolis García	Texas Rangers	Outfielder	5 home runs 1 grand slam 15 runs batted in	[56]
2024	Giancarlo Stanton	New York Yankees	Designated hitter	4 home runs 7 runs batted in 1.222 OPS	[57]

National League winners

Tommy Edman (2024 NLCS MVP)

Ketel Marte (2023 NLCS MVP)

Bryce Harper (2022 NLCS MVP)

Eddie Rosario (2021 NLCS MVP)

Corey Seager (2020 NLCS MVP)

Year	Player	Team	Position	Selected statistics	Ref
1977	Dusty Baker	Los Angeles Dodgers	Outfielder	.357 batting average 2 home runs 8 runs batted in	[58]
1978	Steve Garvey	Los Angeles Dodgers	First baseman	.389 batting average 4 home runs 7 runs batted in	[59]
1979*	Willie Stargell†	Pittsburgh Pirates	First baseman	.455 batting average 2 home runs 6 runs batted in	[60]
1980	Manny Trillo	Philadelphia Phillies	Second baseman	.381 batting average 8 hits 4 runs batted in	[61]
1981	Burt Hooton	Los Angeles Dodgers	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 0 earned runs allowed over 14+2⁄3 innings 1.16 WHIP	[62]
1982*	Darrell Porter	St. Louis Cardinals	Catcher	.556 batting average 5 hits; 3 doubles 5 walks	[63]
1983	Gary Matthews	Philadelphia Phillies	Outfielder	.429 batting average 3 home runs 8 runs batted in	[64]
1984	Steve Garvey (2)	San Diego Padres	First baseman	.400 batting average Walk-off home run in Game 4 7 runs batted in	[65]
1985	Ozzie Smith†	St. Louis Cardinals	Shortstop	.435 batting average Walk-off home run in Game 5 3 runs batted in	[66]
1986	Mike Scott	Houston Astros§	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started; both were complete games - 1 shutout 1 run allowed over 18 innings 19 strikeouts	[67]
1987	Jeffrey Leonard	San Francisco Giants§	Outfielder	.417 batting average 4 home runs 5 runs batted in	[68]
1988*	Orel Hershiser	Los Angeles Dodgers	Pitcher	1–0 record and 1 save over 4 appearances; 3 starts - 1 shutout 3 earned runs allowed over 24+2⁄3 innings 15 strikeouts	[69]
1989	Will Clark	San Francisco Giants	First baseman	.650 batting average 13 hits 8 runs batted in	[70]
1990^	Rob Dibble	Cincinnati Reds	Relief pitcher	1 save over 4 appearances 5 scoreless innings pitched 10 strikeouts	[71]
1990^	Randy Myers	Cincinnati Reds	Relief pitcher	3 saves over 4 appearances 5+2⁄3 scoreless innings pitched 7 strikeouts	[71]
1991	Steve Avery	Atlanta Braves	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 16+1⁄3 scoreless innings pitched 17 strikeouts	[8]
1992	John Smoltz†	Atlanta Braves	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 3 games started 6 earned runs allowed over 20+1⁄3 innings 19 strikeouts	[9]
1993	Curt Schilling	Philadelphia Phillies	Starting pitcher	2 no-decisions over 2 games started 3 earned runs allowed over 16 innings pitched 19 strikeouts	[72]
1994	Series cancelled due to player's strike				[28]
1995	Mike Devereaux	Atlanta Braves	Outfielder	.308 batting average 1 home run 5 runs batted in	[73]
1996	Javy López	Atlanta Braves	Catcher	.542 batting average 5 doubles/ 2 home runs 6 runs batted in	[74]
1997*	Liván Hernández	Florida Marlins	Starting pitcher	2 wins over 2 appearances; 1 relief appearance and 1 start which was a complete game 1 run allowed over 10+2⁄3 innings 16 strikeouts	[75]
1998	Sterling Hitchcock	San Diego Padres	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 1 run allowed over 10 innings 14 strikeouts	[76]
1999	Eddie Pérez	Atlanta Braves	Catcher	.500 batting average 2 home runs 5 runs batted in	[77]
2000	Mike Hampton	New York Mets	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started; 1 shutout 16 scoreless innings pitched 12 strikeouts	[78]
2001	Craig Counsell	Arizona Diamondbacks	Infielder	.381 batting average 4 runs batted in 5 runs scored	[79]
2002	Benito Santiago	San Francisco Giants	Catcher	.300 batting average 2 home runs 6 runs batted in	[80]
2003	Iván Rodríguez†	Florida Marlins	Catcher	.321 batting average 2 home runs 10 runs batted in	[81]
2004	Albert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	First baseman	.500 batting average 4 home runs 9 runs batted in	[82]
2005	Roy Oswalt	Houston Astros	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 2 runs allowed over 14 innings 12 strikeouts	[83]
2006	Jeff Suppan	St. Louis Cardinals	Starting pitcher	1–0 record over 2 games started 1 run allowed over 15 innings 1 home run hit in Game 3	[84]
2007	Matt Holliday	Colorado Rockies	Outfielder	.333 batting average 2 home runs 4 runs batted in	[85]
2008*	Cole Hamels	Philadelphia Phillies	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 3 runs allowed over 14 innings 13 strikeouts	[86]
2009	Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	First baseman	.333 batting average 2 home runs and 8 runs batted in Tied Lou Gehrig's record for most consecutive postseason games with a run batted in (8)	[87]
2010	Cody Ross	San Francisco Giants	Outfielder	.350 batting average 3 home runs 5 runs batted in	[88]
2011*	David Freese	St. Louis Cardinals	Third baseman	.545 batting average 3 home runs 9 runs batted in	[89]
2012	Marco Scutaro	San Francisco Giants	Second baseman	.500 batting average 14 hits 4 runs batted in	[90]
2013	Michael Wacha	St. Louis Cardinals	Starting pitcher	2–0 record over 2 games started 13+2⁄3 scoreless innings pitched 13 strikeouts	[91]
2014*	Madison Bumgarner	San Francisco Giants	Starting pitcher	1–0 record over 2 games started 3 runs allowed over 15+2⁄3 innings 12 strikeouts	[92]
2015	Daniel Murphy	New York Mets	Infielder	.529 batting average 4 home runs 6 runs batted in Major league record for hitting home runs in 6 consecutive playoff games.	[93]
2016^	Jon Lester	Chicago Cubs	Starting pitcher	1–0 record over 2 games started 2 runs allowed over 13 innings 9 strikeouts	[94]
2016^	Javier Báez	Chicago Cubs	Infielder	.368 batting average 7 hits; 4 doubles 5 runs batted in	[94]
2017^	Justin Turner	Los Angeles Dodgers	Third baseman	1.402 OPS 6 runs batted in Walk-off home run to win Game 2	[95]
2017^	Chris Taylor	Los Angeles Dodgers	Outfielder	1.221 OPS 3 runs batted in 2 home runs	[95]
2018	Cody Bellinger	Los Angeles Dodgers	First baseman	1 home run 4 runs batted in Walk-off single to win Game 4	[96]
2019	Howie Kendrick	Washington Nationals	Second baseman	.333 batting average (5-for-15) 4 runs batted in 4 runs scored	[97]
2020*	Corey Seager	Los Angeles Dodgers	Shortstop	11 runs batted in 5 home runs	[98]
2021	Eddie Rosario	Atlanta Braves	Outfielder	.560 batting average 9 runs batted in 3 home runs 1.647 OPS	[99]
2022	Bryce Harper	Philadelphia Phillies	Designated hitter	.400 batting average 5 runs batted in 2 home runs 1.250 OPS	[100]
2023	Ketel Marte	Arizona Diamondbacks	Second baseman	.387 batting average 3 runs batted in .987 OPS Walk-off single to win Game 3	[101]
2024	Tommy Edman	Los Angeles Dodgers	Shortstop	.407 batting average 11 hits 11 runs batted in 1.023 OPS	[102]