Brent Headrick Has Taken Overall Baseball In 2026
Brent Headrick should get Cy Young votes this season as we are seeing one of the most dominant relief pitching seasons in the history of Major League Baseball.
54 games. 54.1 innings. A 1.33 ERA and WHIP of 1.086. 63 strikeouts to not even 20 walks, all while posting 6 wins and a 2.3 pWAR as we close out the month of July.
This article is being made on July 30th, and as of now Brent Headrick last allowed an earned run on July 9th, and overall has had 46 scoreless appearances this season, which is the most across all qualified relievers this season. At home in the Bronx, Headrick has been on another level – he is yet to allow a single run of any nature across the Yankee Stadium home plate in 28 innings.
In 7 games that he has appeared in for the second half of the season thus far, he hasn’t allowed a run. Headrick has become as hard as Bessemer Steel when it comes to trying to score off him.
Will he win the Cy Young? No. Should he get votes? Yes.
Let me remind you that Edwin Diaz came 9th in NL Cy Young voting after his 2022 season with the New York Mets. Although in a closing role primarily, Diaz did post a 1.31 ERA across 62 innings for 32 saves. Brent Headrick is on a projection to notch around 68 games this season for 68 innings, which would make his overall season stat line better or at least on the same fine line of Diaz’s 2022 campaign if he is able to stay consistent.
Headrick is also doing all of this after he was doubted. The New York Yankees claimed Headrick off waivers from the Twins in February of 2025, he went from having little-to-no trade value to now being the top reliever in all of baseball. Headrick is slated to make just $792,675 this season, all while he is playing better than relievers who are on multi-million contracts. Also, he’s 28-years-old – it’s not like this is some seasoned veteran who is having a career resurgence. Prior to the 2026 season, Headrick had only appeared in 32 games for 51.2 innings from 2023-2025.
This could be the start of a very special and possibly hall of fame relief career for the Illinois southpaw.
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