Folks, we’ve officially entered the home stretch of MLB’s 2026 regular season. While we still have pennant races to settle and a World Series champion to crown, some rookie home run records could also fall by the time Game 162 is in the books.
One has already been broken, and three more dudes are within earshot of setting new records for their organizations.
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3 Rookies Chasing Franchise Home Run Records
Sal Stewart, Cincinnati Reds
While there seems to be a lot of chatter regarding the National League Rookie of the Year race, I think it’s going to be tough for anyone to make it past Reds infielder Sal Stewart. Following an impressive 18-game sample in 2025, the 22-year-old has put together an eye-popping campaign in Cincinnati.
Through 136 games played (590 plate appearances), Stewart is slashing .265/.337/.484 with 30 home runs, 104 RBI, and 78 runs scored. He was named an All-Star this past summer and is currently pacing all of baseball in the RBI department. And now that he’s gotten himself over the 30-100 plateau, he’s joined an exclusive club of sluggers, and the names he’s found himself next to bode well for the next few years of his career.
According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, he’s the 14th rookie in MLB history with 30-plus homers and 100-plus RBI in a season. It’s also just the fifth time this has happened since 1994.
The other four dudes were Pete Alonso (2019), Aaron Judge (2017), José Abreu (2014), and Albert Pujols (2001).
So, yeah…not a bad group to find yourself in after one full big-league campaign, right?
As the regular season winds down, there’s another number in his sights. It’s the Reds’ rookie home run record. Frank Robinson is the current owner of this record after slugging 38 in 1956 for Cincy. This would be a tall order for Stewart over the final weeks of the regular season, but it’s certainly within earshot.
Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox
If we’re talking about the most surprising team in baseball this year, how could your answer not be the White Sox?! After three straight years of 100-loss campaigns, they’re currently in a position to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Guys like Miguel Vargas, Colson Montgomery, and rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami have led the way in the power department for Chicago.
I’m still shocked that Murakami landed on the South Side for just two years and $34 million. After all, some projections had him netting $180 million as one of the winter’s top free agents. Concerns about strikeouts and performance against high-velocity pitching led to his market never really forming as many originally expected.
It’s hard to have a better rookie year considering the expectations, though. He was named an All-Star and participated in the Home Run Derby, and through 100 games, Murakami is slashing .221/.361/.503 with 29 homers, 58 RBI, and 71 runs scored.
José Abreu’s White Sox rookie home run record — 36 homers in 2014 — is currently in jeopardy of being broken. But honestly, if Murakami hadn’t missed about five weeks of action between the end of May and the middle of July, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation right now.
Carter Jensen, Kansas City Royals
Do you know who holds the Royals’ rookie home run record? There’s a good chance you don’t know, unless you’re a diehard Kansas City fan. The record is currently held by Bob Hamelin, who slugged 24 taters for the Royals during the strike-shortened season of 1994.
But this record has the chance of falling before the regular season wraps if 23-year-old catcher Carter Jensen hits just a handful of taters. He’s slashing .221/.308/.411 with 19 homers and 61 RBI through 507 plate appearances for KC.
Jensen has certainly hit the skids at the plate when looking at his overall offensive performance over the last couple of months. After posting a monthly OPS above .800 twice through the season’s first three months, it’s settled in below .700 in both July and August.
The Rookie Home Run Record That’s Already Fallen
Entering the 2026 campaign, the most powerful performance by a rookie in Toronto Blue Jays history was put together by Eric Hinske, who slugged 24 taters in 2002.
But after more than two decades at the top of this franchise leaderboard, he’s finally had to move to the side to make room for third baseman Kazuma Okamoto. He signed a four-year, $60 million deal with Toronto in January 2026, and it felt like he immediately hit the ground running.
Through his first 133 games, Okamoto is slashing .230/.306/.447 with 28 homers, 78 RBI, and 72 runs scored. He slugged 19 of those homers through the first three months of the regular season. That stretch culminated with an AL Rookie of the Month performance in June, slashing .286/.353/.560 with seven homers and 20 RBI through 102 plate appearances.
Now with the final stretch of the regular season ahead of us, the only question left for Okamoto to answer here is how many more homers he can add to his franchise record performance.
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