Sal Stewart's Silver Slugger case is enough to win NL ROY argument over JJ Wetherholt

Slowly but surely, everyone seems to be coming around to the idea that Sal Stewart is the leader in the clubhouse for the 2026 National League Rookie of the Year Award.

From the outset, many so-called experts and pundits assumed it would be a three-horse race between Stewart, Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin, and St. Louis Cardinals infielder JJ Wetherholt. Unfortunately for Griffin, he's been on the injured list since the end of June, and it's been a neck-and-neck battle between Stewart and Wetherholt for the better part of two months.

Stewart has been the Reds' best hitter since the 2026 season began. He cooled off a bit between May and June, but ever since the calendar flipped to July, the 22-year-old has been on fire. Stewart leads all of Major League Baseball in RBI this season, recently eclipsed the century-mark, and will undoubtedly be a finalist for the Silver Slugger Award this season.

The same cannot be said of Wetherholt. While the St. Louis faithful have continually lauded the rookie's base running abilities and elite defensive play at second base, it's rare to see those same Cardinals fans cite his offensive statistics. I wonder why? Simply put, because they're about league average.

Sal Stewart's Silver Slugger case should move him ahead of JJ Wetherholt for Rookie of the Year

For the season, Wetherholt is hitting .245/.347/.377 with 17 home runs, 48 RBI, and a 107 wRC+. For comparison's sake, those numbers are about equal to what Spencer Steer put up before landing on the IL. He was hitting .238/.319/.421 with 16 home runs, 40 RBI and a 102 wRC+ before suffering a season-ending wrist injury. Wetherholt has a higher on-base percentage, but Steer's slugging brings both players to about the same OPS.

Defense matters. No one is arguing that. But this whole concept of Wins Above Replacement, Defensive Runs Saved, Outs Above Average, Fielding Run Value, and every other subjective metric that the egg-heads want to throw out there doesn't amount to a hill of beans if you can't hit the dang ball.

Wetherholt has done a phenomenal job preventing runs this season, but Stewart driven runs in with regularity. With runners in scoring position, Stewart is hitting .321/.385/.627 with 12 home runs, 81 RBI, and a 159 wRC+. That is flat-out getting it done.

Wetherholt has no hope of winning a Silver Slugger Award this season. Brandon Lowe (Pirates), Ozzie Albies (Atlanta Braves), and Brice Turang (Milwaukee Brewers) are the likely finalists at second base.

Stewart will have an uphill climb to knock off Matt Olson (Braves) at first base. Wetherholt's teammate Alec Burleson will be the mix as well. But Stewart could qualify for the Silver Slugger Award as a utility player this season as well. His fiercest competition from that position might come from Brewers' slugger Jake Bauers.

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