Cardinals' rookie JJ Wetherholt is back, but Sal Stewart has nothing to worry about

The Golden Boy of the Gateway City, JJ Wetherholt, returned to the St. Louis Cardinals starting lineup on Wednesday. Wetherholt, who'd been sidelined with a wrist injury since the end of August, was activated off the 10-day IL prior to the Cardinals' 6-5 loss to the San Francisco Giants following a 15-game absence.

It wasn't that long ago that Cardinals' fans were stumping for Wetherholt to be the 2026 National League Rookie of the Year. The St. Louis faithful were championing their rookie infielder's superb defense and Wins Above Replacement (WAR) as the biggest reasons why Wetherholt was superior to Cincinnati Reds' slugger Sal Stewart.

Even before Wetherholt's trip to the IL, he was already trending in the wrong direction. After the All-Star break, he was hitting just .201/.313/.305. During that same stretch, Stewart was red-hot. Following his All-Star appearance, the Reds' first baseman posted a .287/.335/.521 slash line with a 127 wRC+. That performance earned him Rookie of the Month honors in August — the second time he was recognized for his sterling efforts this season.

Stewart's cooled off a bit during the month of September. Heading into Thursday's series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he's gone 16-for-58 (.302) in his last 14 games, but has failed to record an extra-base since the calendar flipped to September.

JJ Wetherholt has no hope of catching Reds slugger Sal Stewart for NL Rookie of the Year

Still, Stewart leads all NL rookies in games played (152), hits (157), home runs (31), and RBI (108). He's also among the top-5 in batting average, runs scored, stolen bases, doubles, and slugging percentage.

Cardinals fans constantly kept citing WAR as the end-all, be-all stat. Wetherholt's absence didn't hurt the St. Louis rookie in that category. He still leads all first-year players with 4.3 fWAR. Carson Benge (3.4), TJ Rumfield (2.6), Stewart (2.5), and A.J Ewing (2.0) round out the top-5.

But WAR isn't going to help Wetherholt secure the NL Rookie of the Year Award. In fact, another rookie may have usurped him for the second spot behind Stewart. New York Mets starter Nolan McLean has garnered a lot of media attention lately, and he owns an impressive 3.24 ERA with a 26.5% strikeout rate in his first season in Queens.

The latest odds suggest Stewart has the award in the bag — something most Reds fans have been saying since mid-August. We'll have to wait until the end of the year to celebrate, but a few more home runs between now and last game of the season would certainly help to seal the deal.

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