Although Kevin McGonigle is running away with the American League Rookie of the Year award, the same can not be said for the senior circuit. The National League Rookie of the Year chase is a dogfight with several players making a case to take home the award. They are all having very similar seasons and have very strong cases to take home the award. With the race being so tight, it should make for good debates and discussion about who is most deserving. Here are the rookies up for the award, along with the case for why they should win it.
Who has a shot at the 2026 Rookie of the Year?
Sal Stewart, Cincinnati Reds: Stewart is the odds-on favorite to win the award right now. In 133 games this season, he has slashed .263/.335/.475 with 28 home runs, 100 RBIs, and a 121 OPS+. He is the first player this season to reach 100 RBI and leads the majors in that category. His home run total also leads all National League rookies. The only Rookie who has more is Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox. It’s clear that Stewart has done a ton of damage at the plate this season. He is one of, if not the, reasons people are still tuning in to Reds games. Being one of the faces of a team at a young age is not easy.
JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals: One of the reasons the Cardinals have been so successful this season is the play of Wetherholt. In 127 games, he has slashed .245/.347/.377 with 17 home runs, 48 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 108. He also leads all NL rookies with a 2.37 WPA. This means that no other National League rookie has contributed more to their team’s success than Wetherholt. This gives him the best story out of all the contenders. His presence helped the Cardinals go from what should have been a lost season to being in contention late into the season. This is the type of story that gets writers to vote for you.
Carson Benge, New York Mets: Benge is in the middle of an impressive rookie campaign. In 126 games, he has slashed .282/.342/.431 with 16 home runs, 53 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 117. These numbers on their own are impressive, but what makes it even more impressive is how bad he was at the start of the season. On May 2nd, he had a slash line of .179/.235/.263. There were talks that he was not ready and needed to be sent to Triple-A. But since that date, he has been one of the best hitters in baseball. Being this hot for this long is hard for a veteran to do. The fact that a rookie is doing it is very impressive and deserves recognition.
Dark Horses: Outside of these three, there are two players who have an outside chance of taking home the award. The first is Nolan McLean of the Mets. He is the only pitcher with a shot at taking home this award. In 26 starts, he has a 3.21 ERA with 168 strikeouts to 58 walks, a 1.143 WHIP and a 126 ERA+. But it is very hard for a starter to win an award like this with them pitching every five days. The other is TJ Rumfield of the Colorado Rockies. He has .286/.371/.437 with 13 home runs, 60 RBIs, and an 113 OPS+. But he will get knocked for playing at Coors Field despite his home/away splits being nearly the same.
Regardless of who takes home the award, it will be a very entertaining race to watch. It will be very interesting to see if any of these rookies are able to separate themselves from the pack.
