Baseball's rookie class of 2026 got its coronation Monday night. Sal Stewart, the Cincinnati Reds' 22-year-old first baseman, won the National League Rookie of the Year, while Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle claimed the American League award, per Yahoo Sports.

The case for Stewart

Stewart didn't just have a good rookie year — he had an iron-man season with middle-of-the-order production. Per Yahoo Sports, he played all 162 games, slashed .263/.330/.457, and hit 32 home runs with 112 RBI — the third-most RBI in all of baseball. That RBI total broke a Reds rookie record that had stood since 1953, per the Cincinnati Enquirer, and his 164 hits were the most by a Reds rookie since Pete Rose's 170 in 1963, per MLB.com.

The voting, via Yahoo Sports: Stewart took 20 of 30 first-place votes for 170 points, beating Mets outfielder Carson Benge (107) and Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (99). He was the only player named on every ballot. The race carried genuine debate — Wetherholt's 4.5 bWAR at second base dwarfed Stewart's 2.0 at first, and Benge posted 4.3 with 168 hits, per Yahoo Sports — but the voters went with the thunder.

The company he joins

Stewart becomes the ninth Reds player to win the award, and the list reads like a franchise shrine, per Yahoo Sports:

  • Frank Robinson (1956)
  • Pete Rose (1963)
  • Tommy Helms (1966)
  • Johnny Bench (1968)
  • Pat Zachry (1976)
  • Chris Sabo (1988)
  • Scott Williamson (1999)
  • Jonathan India (2021)

There's a tidy full-circle note here too: Stewart finally stabilized first base for Cincinnati, a position the club had churned through since Joey Votto's final season in 2023, per Yahoo Sports.

Kevin McGonigle on the field
Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle, the AL's top rookie. Photo: D. Benjamin Miller / CC0

McGonigle runs away with the AL

The American League race had far less suspense. McGonigle, the Tigers' infielder, won in what Yahoo Sports described as a landslide, with Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson picking up five total votes in the NL balloting footnotes. The two awards kicked off MLB's annual honors week, with the remaining hardware still to come.

What's next

For Cincinnati, Stewart's award is less a trophy than a foundation. The Enquirer framed it as fuel for the Reds' optimism heading into 2027: a durable, record-breaking run producer who just played every single game, locked into the middle of the order at 22. Rookie of the Year voters rewarded the counting stats; the Reds will happily take the 162-game habit.