The Division Series picture is almost set, and a few names have already separated themselves from the pack. Milwaukee and Los Angeles are headed back to the NLCS, Tampa Bay is waiting in the ALCS, and the White Sox still hold a 2-1 edge over Cleveland with that ALDS not yet finished. But if MLB handed out a trophy for the best player in each Division Series, there are already a few obvious winners.
Start with Milwaukee, because Jackson Chourio didn’t pile up the cleanest batting line and still owned the series.
He finished just 3 for 16 in the Brewers’ four-game NLDS win over the Padres, but those three hits hit like haymakers. Chourio launched the game-tying two-run homer in Game 1, then delivered the knockout blow in Game 2 with a two-out, two-strike, two-run single against Mason Miller that turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 walk-off win. That swing changed everything and put Milwaukee in command with a 2-0 series lead.
After Game 2, Chourio explained the mindset that has shaped his approach.
"I look back to my first year, my rookie year, it was a game against Seattle. I think I was the last out, punched out against (Andrés) Muñoz.
He was on the mound at that time," Chourio explained after Game 2. "At that point, everything turned for me.
I told myself I was never going to make the last out. I'd dedicate myself to fighting and doing whatever I could for the team and not having that feeling again from that specific game."
By championship probability added, that walk-off single was the biggest hit of the 2026 season to date at +6.94%, ahead of Austin Riley’s go-ahead three-run homer in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series at +3.97%. William Contreras went 6 for 16 with two homers, Christian Yelich hit 5 for 14, and Aaron Ashby’s three no-hit relief innings in the Game 4 clincher got some attention too. Still, Chourio’s damage came in the biggest moments, and that’s what separated him.
The Rays’ sweep of the Yankees had a different feel. Tampa Bay won two one-run games and another by three, and Game 2 got messy when New York helped out with some sloppy defense.
Three of the Rays’ five runs in that game were unearned. The offense never exactly caught fire, either, with Tampa Bay hitting .208/.255/.344 in the series.
Jonathan Aranda made a real case for ALDS MVP with a 4-for-12 showing and the solo homer that decided Game 1, but Drew Rasmussen was the bigger force. In that opener, he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, struck out 10, and made Aranda’s homer stand up in a 1-0 win.
Kevin Cash had plenty to say about that performance.
"I think he's pretty special and dialed in most nights," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "As the game continues to unfold and you keep looking up there, no hits, no hits, no hits, I mean, that tells you right there.
That's just a really good lineup, very elite hitting, quality at-bats, hard contact, everything. For him to limit it that way speaks loudest about how good he was tonight."
Rasmussen led all players in the series in both win probability added and championship probability added, and it wasn’t close. He’s also been a Yankees Killer for a while now, with a 1.81 ERA in 11 starts against New York, and he shut them down again when it mattered most.
Out in the NL, the Dodgers got a huge push from Yoshinobu Yamamoto in their win over the Braves. Andy Pages deserved mention after delivering two hits in Games 3 and 4, including the series-winning two-run single in the seventh inning of Game 4. That was a sharp turnaround for Pages, who was so ineffective last postseason that he wasn’t in the starting lineup for Games 6 and 7 of the World Series.
Even so, Yamamoto was the choice. In Game 3, he threw seven innings of one-run ball and struck out 10, helping Los Angeles grab a 2-1 series lead. It was exactly the kind of postseason outing that has made him look like the sport’s best big-game pitcher.
"Wow. What a performance," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
"I think it was that fifth inning where they started to get a little bit of stress, but managed the situation, limited damage. And to go out there and give us two more, pretty impressive ...
To get through seven innings, our bullpen is in a good spot as far as Game 4. Can't say enough about Yoshinobu."
In three MLB seasons, Yamamoto has a 2.14 ERA in 63 career postseason innings across 10 starts and one memorable relief appearance. Those numbers weren’t part of this specific MVP call, but they fit the same pattern. When the stage gets bigger, Yamamoto keeps showing up.
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