Sal Stewart of the Cincinnati Reds and Kevin McGonigle of the Detroit Tigers were the best rookies in Major League Baseball this past season.
Stewart took home the 2026 National League Rookie of the Year on Monday, while McGonigle captured the 2026 American League Rookie of the Year.
The finalists for the awards were announced earlier this month, and Carson Benge of the New York Mets and JJ Wetherholt of the St. Louis Cardinals joined Stewart in the National League race.
As for the American League, Parker Messick of the Cleveland Guardians and Payton Tolle of the Boston Red Sox were finalists alongside McGonigle.
The American League race was a bit like comparing apples to oranges, as McGonigle is an infielder while the other two finalists are pitchers. The two pitchers can be directly compared from a statistical perspective, but figuring out how those numbers stack up against McGonigle’s offensive ones was a job for the voters.
McGonigle was an All-Star in his first season while slashing .278/.376/.430 with 18 home runs, 72 RBI and 12 stolen bases. He also appeared in 156 games for the Tigers as a durable and reliable staple in their lineup.
What’s more, he led the American League with a wins above replacement (WAR) total of 7.1, per Baseball Reference.
Messick was also an All-Star with a sparkling 2.56 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 193 strikeouts in 186.1 innings for Cleveland, while Tolle finished with a 3.03 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 171 strikeouts in 148.2 innings for Boston.
The National League race did not feature any pitchers, although there was perhaps more drama regarding the final result since it was something of a race between traditional power stats for Stewart and more advanced ones bolstering the cases for Benge and Wetherholt.
Stewart appeared in all 162 games and finished with a .263/.330/.457 slash line, 32 home runs, 112 RBI and 15 stolen bases. By crossing the 30-homer and 100-RBI barriers, he demonstrated just how impactful his bat was in the middle of the Reds’ lineup.
However, his WAR of 2.0 was well behind Benge’s mark of 4.3 and Wetherholt’s total of 4.5.
Benge slashed .282/.346/.430 with 20 home runs, 65 RBI and 22 stolen bases while also showing off an impressive throwing arm in the outfield that made him dangerous to run against during the season. As for Wetherholt, he was a dazzling defender and finished second to only Pete Crow-Armstrong in outs above average this season, per Baseball Savant.
Wetherholt was arguably the best defensive infielder in the league but still slashed .242/.339/.365 with 17 home runs, 51 RBI and 14 stolen bases.
It was a fascinating race with different cases to be made for each contender, but ultimately it was Stewart who took home the award.