It's not just the race for the National League MVP that is going to come down to the wire.

It's also the race for the National League Rookie of the Year between St. Louis Cardinals second baseman J.J. Wetherholt and Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart.

The cases for both are compelling, and Stewart furthered his case on Wednesday with his 100th RBI of the season.

Sal Stewart is in rare company with 100 RBI as a rookie

A sacrifice fly from Stewart in the seventh inning of Wednesday's game against the San Francisco Giants made him the first player in the majors with 100 RBI this season.

Additionally, Stewart became the first rookie with 100 RBI in a season since Petr Alonso did so for the New York Mets in 2019. All-time, Stewart is just the 45th player to collect 100 RBI as a rookie and just the seventh player since 2000 to do so.

Sal Stewart just hit 100 RBIs as a rookie.

Only 7 players have done that since 2000:
Albert Pujols — 130 (2001)
Hideki Matsui — 106 (2003)
Ryan Zimmerman — 110 (2006)
José Abreu — 107 (2014)
Aaron Judge — 114 (2017)
Pete Alonso — 120 (2019)
Sal Stewart — 100 (2026) pic.twitter.com/ZRKraPq1gl

Will offense or defense be more important for the Rookie of the Year race?

In terms of offensive production, Stewart has been better than Wetherholt in nearly every offensive category, with a higher average, more hits, home runs, RBI.

Defensively, though, Wetherholt has been among the top players in the league this season with 21 Outs Above Average and 21 Fielding Run Value, well above Stewart's marks of zero and -2 in the respective categories.

Ultimately, for voters, it will come down to their value of offensive or defensive production. Stewart is having a historic rookie season, so it would appear that he should be the favorite for the award with his outstanding offensive production.