How Reds' Sal Stewart has MLB history on his side for NL Rookie of the Year award

While the 2026 season for the Cincinnati Reds has been a bit of a mess, there has been one major positive takeaway: rookie slugger Sal Stewart.

After an impressive debut in 2025, he's turned his game up a notch in 2026 and now, as September begins, looks to be the clear favorite in the NL Rookie of the Year race.

MLB.com's Jason Foster revealed this, with 24 out of 40 MLB experts voting him as the NL ROY favorite. But Foster also revealed that MLB history is on his side, as he might have already done enough to win this award.

Sal Stewart has MLB history on his side in pursuit of NL Rookie of the Year award

"When a rookie pops 30+ homers and leads the Majors with a 105 RBIs at the end of August, it's hard to argue against him as the ROY frontrunner," Foster writes. "In fact, every rookie to compile a 30-homer, 100-RBI season since the award began in 1947 has taken home the trophy."

Since 1947, when the Rookie of the Year award was first introduced, not once has a rookie who has hit 30 or more homers and 100 or more RBIs not won the award.

Stewart, with practically an entire month of the regular season to go, has hit 31 homers and has 105 RBIs. He leads MLB in RBIs, and his home-run total leads all rookies.

While there might've been a challenge from JJ Wetherholt, he's now injured, and his struggles after the All-Star break made him lose a lot of ground on Stewart.

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Now, the Reds rookie infielder is poised to win this award, as he's already joined the rare 30+ HR and 100+ RBI company among rookies, all of whom won their respective awards.

Stewart also has a .268 batting average and an .827 OPS with 2.3 bWAR in 139 games played, with 80 runs scored, 143 hits, and 25 doubles.

While his defense and plate discipline, with 130 strikeouts to just 57 walks in the year, could use some improvement, his overall offensive production is more than enough to get him this award.

Nolan McLean has been good, Carson Benge is red-hot lately, and Wetherholt will likely beat him in bWAR. But Stewart's major offensive production should get him this end-of-season award, as history is on his side.

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