Sal Stewart has turned the National League Rookie of the Year race into a one-man chase.
With September still on the calendar, the Reds rookie has separated himself from the pack thanks to a scorching August that changed the conversation around the award. In 29 games last month, Stewart hit .304 with eight homers, 21 runs scored and 35 hits, and he posted a .879 OPS. Every one of those marks was a season high for him in a single month.
That surge came while fellow contender Wetherholt hit .200 with a .595 OPS in August, even with his strong defensive work. Stewart’s offensive run has been enough to push him into the front of a field that also includes the AL’s Kevin McGonigle, Parker Messick and Munetaka Murakami.
The raw numbers are already eye-opening. Entering Thursday, Stewart led all rookies with 31 homers, 105 RBIs, 143 hits and 140 games played. His RBI total also sat atop the Major Leagues, putting him in position to become just the third rookie in MLB history to finish a season leading the league in RBIs, alongside Ted Williams in 1939 and Walt Dropo in 1950.
He’s already carved out a place in Reds history, too. Stewart is the only Cincinnati rookie ever to post a 30-homer, 100-RBI season, and he’s only the second Reds rookie to hit 30 or more homers at all, joining Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, who hit 38 in 1956. His 105 RBIs are also closing in on the franchise rookie record after he passed Jim Greengrass, who had 100 in 1953, on Friday.
The company he’s joining tells you plenty about the season he’s having. Since the Rookie of the Year Award started in 1947, the last nine rookies to hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs all won the award: Dropo in 1950, Ron Kittle in 1983, Jose Canseco in 1986, Mark McGwire in 1987, Mike Piazza in 1993, Albert Pujols in 2001, José Abreu in 2014, Aaron Judge in 2017 and Pete Alonso in 2019.
“It’s remarkable," said closer Emilio Pagán on Friday about Stewart. "If I had a vote, he’s Rookie of the Year.
Obviously, I’m biased. And he’s getting stronger down the stretch, which is really hard for young players to do.
You see it every year. A rookie will hit a proverbial wall in August or September, [but] his at-bats seem to be getting better.”
Availability has been part of the story, too. Stewart has played in every game.
That leaves the fun question: how much more can he pile up before the season ends? A 40-homer rookie year is still within reach, though only three players have ever done it - Alonso with 53, Judge with 52 and McGwire with 49.
If Stewart matches his August homer pace, he could tie Cody Bellinger’s 39 homers from 2017 for the fourth-most by a rookie in one season. He is also seven homers shy of tying Robinson for the most by a Reds rookie, a mark he has reached three times in the five full months so far this season.
The RBI chase could get even more interesting. Stewart has driven in at least 21 runs in each of the past three months, and 126 or more remains possible, which would rank as the sixth-most by a rookie in MLB history. Even 120 RBIs would be a notable milestone; only seven rookies have reached that figure since RBIs became an official stat in 1920, and only Pujols, with 130, has done it since 2000.
The Reds may have a tough road back into the NL Wild Card race, but Stewart’s rookie year is still on track to become something special. At this point, it’s hard to picture him not taking home Cincinnati’s first Rookie of the Year Award since Jonathan India in 2021.
Stewart, though, is keeping his focus on the games in front of him.
“I don’t want to keep talking about it," Stewart said on Friday regarding the Rookie of the Year Award race. "There’s a lot of great players.
I’ve said it once and I’ll continue to say it -- I’m proud of all of their seasons and I’m happy for them. Do I want to win it?
Yes. But I don’t want to keep bringing it back up.
I want to focus on winning games. It’s not fair to these guys right here, who’ve played a lot of games.”
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