Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
NEW YORK, NY — Major League Baseball today announced its 2026 plans to celebrate the humanitarian legacy of Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, centered around the annual Roberto Clemente Day on Tuesday, September 15th and baseball’s most prestigious individual honor, the Roberto Clemente Award, both of which are presented by Capital One.
One player from each club is nominated each year. This year’s nominees include seven 2026 All-Stars and 14 first-time nominees.
The 30 Club nominees of the 2026 Roberto Clemente Award – Image Credit: Major League Baseball
The nominees will be recognized in ballparks beginning on Tuesday, this year’s Roberto Clemente Day.
The 30 Club nominees of the 2026 Roberto Clemente Award are listed below:
Arizona Diamondbacks – Corbin Carroll
Athletics – Zack Gelof*
Atlanta Braves – Austin Riley*
Baltimore Orioles – Pete Alonso
Boston Red Sox – Garrett Whitlock*
Chicago Cubs – Dansby Swanson*
Chicago White Sox – Davis Martin*
Cincinnati Reds – Jose Trevino
Cleveland Guardians – Joey Cantillo*
Colorado Rockies – Kyle Freeland
Detroit Tigers – Justin Verlander
Houston Astros – Josh Hader
Kansas City Royals – Bobby Witt Jr.
Los Angeles Angels – Zach Neto*
Los Angeles Dodgers – Will Smith
Miami Marlins – Otto Lopez*
Milwaukee Brewers – Christian Yelich
Minnesota Twins – Pablo López
New York Mets – Francisco Lindor
New York Yankees – Carlos Rodón
Philadelphia Phillies – Kyle Schwarber
Pittsburgh Pirates – Brandon Lowe
San Diego Padres – Jason Adam
San Francisco Giants – Logan Webb*
Seattle Mariners – Julio Rodríguez*
St. Louis Cardinals – Jordan Walker*
Tampa Bay Rays – Cedric Mullins*
Texas Rangers – Jake Burger*
Toronto Blue Jays – George Springer
Washington Nationals – Nasim Nuñez*
First-time Nominee*
- 64 career All-Star selections, including seven 2026 All-Stars
- Nine World Series Championships
- Four Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award winners (Alonso, Carroll, Rodríguez, Verlander)
- 17 career Silver Slugger Awards
- Nine career Rawlings Gold Glove Awards
- Four MLB Develops Youth Program Alumni (Nuñez, Rodón, Walker, Witt Jr.)
The leaguewide winner of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One will be honored at the 2026 World Series following selection by a blue-ribbon panel. This panel includes representatives from the Commissioner’s Office, Capital One, MLB-affiliated networks (MLB Network, FOX Sports, ESPN, NBC Sports, Netflix and TBS), MLB.com, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Roberto’s children, Enrique, Luis and Roberto Clemente, Jr. Beginning today, fans can vote for the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One via http://mlbtogether.com/clementeaward (in both English and Spanish). The site, which will feature bios of each of the nominees, allows fans to vote until the end of the season on Sunday, September 27th. The winner of the fan vote will count as one vote among those cast by the blue-ribbon panel. The concept of honoring Major League players for their philanthropic work was created in 1971 as the “Commissioner’s Award.” The recognition was renamed to the “Roberto Clemente Award” in 1973 tribute to Clemente following his tragic passing.
On Tuesday, September 15th, all Roberto Clemente Award nominees and previous Award recipients will have the option to wear “21” as their uniform number, joining players of Puerto Rican descent and others who wore the number during previous commemorations of the day – Image Credit: Major League Baseball
A customized tribute video to Clemente’s legacy and the 30 Roberto Clemente Award nominees (ENGLISH & SPANISH) will be shown in all MLB ballparks on Roberto Clemente Day as well as across MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB.TV, Club sites and MLB Social Media platforms.
On Roberto Clemente Day on September 15th, all players, managers and coaches on the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Club for which Roberto played his entire Hall of Fame career, will once again wear Roberto’s “21” on their uniforms. Additional uniform elements include a “21” patch that will be applied to the chest of jerseys for all players and on-field personnel, with special language noting the recognition on the patches of Roberto Clemente Award nominees presented by Capital One. Each ballpark will honor Roberto Clemente Day with base jewels and official dugout lineup cards featuring the Roberto Clemente Day presented by Capital One logo.
2024 NL LatinoMVP and 20216 AL LatinoMVP Francisco Lindor rounds first base on Roberto Clemente Day in 2023 – Image Credit: Maz Adams/Latino Sports
MLB.com and all 30 Club sites also will feature Roberto Clemente Day and Award stories and content.
Roberto Clemente Day also marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, as Major League Baseball launches a celebration of Latine contributions to the sport through its “El Béisbol Es Otra Cosa” campaign. Highlighting the intersection of baseball, fashion, music and community, MLB’s 2026 campaign features a new broadcast spot narrated by Eladio Carrión alongside an exciting lineup of original music releases and exclusive apparel collaborations. The monthlong celebration will also feature MLB’s first-ever community pop-up event, with more details to be announced soon. The festivities carry into October as MLB extends its Hispanic Heritage Month initiatives through the Postseason, celebrating Latine and spotlighting Latino stars competing for a World Series title. Hispanic Heritage Month efforts are complementary to the year-round focus the League aims to celebrate and promote Latine culture throughout the game. MLB Español, MLB’s official Spanish platform and dedicated MLB country accounts (MLB Cuba, MLB Dominicana, MLB Mexico, MLB Puerto Rico and MLB Venezuela), highlight the accomplishments of players and personnel from those unique regions throughout the year.
Information Courtesy of Major League Baseball
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