Sal Stewart is turning a rough Reds season into something worth watching every night.
Cincinnati may not be where it wants to be in the bigger picture of 2026, but the rookie infielder has put himself squarely in the NL Rookie of the Year conversation with a season that’s been loud from the jump. He’s up to 30 homers, a .265 batting average and 138 hits, but the number that really jumps off the page is 104 RBIs - the most in MLB.
That puts Stewart on the doorstep of a very small club. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale noted that if Stewart finishes with the RBI lead, he would become just the third rookie in MLB history to do it, alongside Ted Williams and Walt Dropo.
"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.
The task is simple to explain and hard to pull off: Stewart needs to finish atop the National League in RBIs. He’s already sitting at 104 before August has even ended, and while his .821 OPS may not match the flashiest bats around the league, his production has been impossible to ignore.
Williams drove in 145 runs in his rookie season and led all of Major League Baseball. Dropo followed with 144 RBIs as a rookie, also the top mark in the sport.
Stewart doesn’t need to chase that kind of total now. He just needs to hold off the NL field over the final month-plus.
The chase behind him is real. Alec Burleson is second in the NL with 99 RBIs, Jordan Walker is next with 97, CJ Abrams has 92, and Pete Crow-Armstrong sits at 89. Across the American League, Yordan Alvarez leads with 93 RBIs, followed by Pete Alonso at 91, with Ben Rice and Junior Caminero tied at 86.
So Stewart enters September with a five-RBI cushion over the rest of baseball. If he keeps producing and the other big bats don’t catch fire, the Reds rookie could carve out a place in one of MLB’s rarest statistical corners.
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Edwin Arroyo is back in the big leagues with another opening to make a case for himself, and this one comes at an important moment for the Reds infield. Cincinnati recalled the infielder from Triple-A Louisville after KeBryan Hayes landed on the injured list, giving the club a fresh option to help cover third base and possibly reset a position that has been in flux.
Arroyo has played well at Louisville, but his first major league look did not go smoothly, with struggles on both sides of the ball. Even so, Terry Francona sounded interested in seeing what the young infielder can do with a more defined opportunity this time around, and the Reds are expected to give him a look at third base as they sort through the next stretch without Hayes. [Read more 🡒]
Joey Votto Just Gave Reds Fans A Reason To Show Up At Wrigley
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Votto has been a compelling voice in his post-playing appearances, using previous NBC broadcasts to talk about everything from his career to never having visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He also addressed questions about whether he might eventually work for the Reds on MLB Networks MLB Now, which only adds another layer to what should be a notable night for Cincinnati fans watching from the ballpark. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Just Made A Telling Kien Vu Decision After His Bat Cooled Off
The Reds moved Kien Vu from Double-A Chattanooga back to High-A Dayton after an injury to outfielder Kyle Henley opened up a spot, a reset that says plenty about where the organization thinks Vu stands right now. He had earned his way up with a strong run in Dayton earlier this season, but the bat never fully carried over in Chattanooga, and the return trip gives him a chance to get back to the level where he looked far more comfortable.
It also fits into a broader player-development picture for Cincinnati, with the club still sorting through the next wave in its Dominican Summer League and keeping an eye on prospects who could be headed stateside soon. For Vu, the assignment is less about a setback than a chance to rediscover the approach and production that pushed him forward in the first place, even if the road back to Double-A now looks a little longer. [Read more 🡒]