How Reds rookie Sal Stewart can join Ted Williams in rare MLB history

The Cincinnati Reds are not having a good 2026 season by the overall outlook of the season, but individually, Sal Stewart might be the NL Rookie of the Year favorite as September is about to begin.

For the Reds infielder, he's been putting up some truly incredible offensive numbers. He has 30 homers, a .265 batting average, and 138 hits. But the big number is his MLB-leading 104 RBIs this season.

According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, if Stewart were to finish the year with the most RBIs in baseball, he'd join Ted Williams and Walt Dropo as the only players to accomplish such a feat as rookies in MLB history.

Sal Stewart has chance to join Ted Williams in rare MLB history

"Stewart could join Ted Williams (1939) and Walt Dropo (1950) as the only rookies to lead their league in runs batted in, racking up 103 with 30 homers entering Sunday," Nightengale shared.

Stewart has 104 RBIs in the regular season before August has come to a close. He's been one of the best hitters in baseball this year, even though his .821 OPS might not be as elite as some other sluggers around baseball.

All he has to do to make this MLB history, joining Williams and Dropo, is to lead the National League in RBIs.

Williams had 145 RBIs in his rookie season, which led all of Major League Baseball. Dropo had 144 RBIs in his rookie year, also the most in MLB.

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It's going to be impossible for Stewart to hit 40-plus RBIs in a month to reach these two, but he could still wind up as the NL leader in RBIs.

In the NL, Alec Burleson is second with 99 RBIs, Jordan Walker is third with 97, CJ Abrams is fourth with 92 RBIs, and Pete Crow-Armstrong (the likely NL MVP) has 89 RBIs.

Combining both leagues, Yordan Alvarez has 93 RBIs in the AL, the most in that conference. Pete Alonso has 91, while Ben Rice and Junior Caminero are tied at 86 each.

Stewart has a five-RBI lead over the rest of baseball, so as long as he keeps up his current pace through September and these other sluggers don't get too hot, Stewart should be able to make this impressive MLB history.

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