Sal Stewart now stands alone at the top of the RBI leaderboard — not just in the National League, but across all of baseball. As of Tuesday, August 4, 2026, Stewart holds 86 RBI on the season, surpassing Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams to claim the sole NL lead and, with it, the top RBI spot in the majors. The margin is razor-thin, just 1.2 percent over the runner-up, but the number is official: Sal Stewart is driving in runs at the best clip in baseball.
Sal Stewart's 2026 RBI Total in Context
86 RBI before the calendar flips to mid-August is a legitimate statement number. Sustaining that kind of run-production through the dog days of summer is what separates producers from stars, and Stewart is doing it while leading every hitter in the game. That alone makes the number worth underlining.
Reaching the top of the majors-wide RBI leaderboard at this point in the schedule is rare for any player. Stewart has not just held his own against established hitters — he has outpaced every one of them, in both leagues. That is the headline inside the headline.
How Stewart Overtook CJ Abrams
The leader-flip is the story here. Abrams, the Nationals shortstop, held the NL RBI lead coming into this flip. Stewart's push past him closes the loop on a tight statistical race and hands the Reds a player sitting at the top of the entire sport's most straightforward offensive category. Neither player is separated by much — the data pegs the margin at 1.2 percent — so this lead could change hands again. But right now, the name at the top belongs to Cincinnati.
What Makes This Number Matter for the Reds
Stewart is carrying a significant share of Cincinnati's offensive production in the middle of the lineup, and 86 RBI through early August puts him in rarefied air. Leading all of baseball in RBI at any point in a season is a meaningful individual benchmark — it means you have been the most productive run-producer in the sport over the course of the year to date, across both leagues. That is not a narrow accomplishment.
The position — sole leader, not tied — matters too. Stewart isn't sharing the spotlight with Abrams or anyone else. He earned it outright by putting up a number that stands alone when you sort every hitter in the majors by runs batted in. For a Cincinnati lineup that needs its middle-of-the-order hitters to deliver, Stewart is delivering at the highest level in the game.
What to Watch the Rest of the Way
The lead is real, but 1.2 percent is not a cushion. Abrams and any other hitters lurking just behind Stewart — in either league — can close that gap in a hot week. The question over the final two months of the 2026 season is whether Stewart can hold and extend the lead over the full field, or whether the majors-wide leaderboard shuffles again.
At Great American Ball Park, every at-bat with runners on base now carries an added layer of significance. Stewart doesn't need to chase the number — the RBI come when the lineup puts men on base and he does his job. So far in 2026, he has done that job better than anyone in baseball.
Keep watching this one. 86 is the number today. The question is how high it goes.
