Alec Burleson is MLB's 2026 RBI leader after career year with Cardinals

Alec Burleson is your 2026 Major League leader in runs batted in, the first St. Louis Cardinal to lead all of baseball in RBI since Hall of Famer Joe Torre in 1971.

Yup, not even Albert Pujols was able to do what Burleson just did with the Cardinals. Imagine the kind of run production he could have when the lineup improves over the next few seasons!

Last night, Burleson became the first left-handed hitting Cardinal since Stan Musial in 1954 to have at least 116 RBI in a season, which is also extremely impressive considering the likes of Jim Edmonds, Keith Hernandez, Matt Carpenter, Tim McCarver, Ray Lankford, Lou Brock, Bill White, and other great left-handed hitters wore the Birds on the Bat since then. He also joined Pujols and Scott Rolen as the only Cardinals to have 116 or more RBIs since the year 2000.

Really, the only weakness in Burleson's game is his production against left-handed pitching, but he still was able to put up great offensive numbers in the midst of that. He's one of the best bats in baseball against right-handed pitching, a massive advantage for the Cardinals lineup moving forward.

Cardinals lineup will be formidable for years with Alec Burleson anchoring it

Burleson is already joined by an exciting cast of bats, headlined by Jordan Walker, Ivan Herrera, Leo Bernal, Joshua Baez, and JJ Wetherholt, and even more are on the way.

Rainiel Rodriguez should be joining soon and may end up being the best bat of the bunch. Jesus Baez just hit over 40 home runs this year in the minor leagues and could be a masher for them soon. Josiah Ragsdale, Alexander Frias, Jimmy Crooks, Trevor Condon, Tai Peete, and so many others may end up lengthening that lineup out even more. That doesn't even include if the Cardinals go out and trade for or sign a big bat to join their mix.

Burleson has established himself as an anchor though, a bat capable of driving in runs at a high level, even when the lineup has gone through stretches where they just don't have enough talent to produce. Burleson will have even more protection in the lineup moving forward, as well as guys on base in front of him, so we may see an even higher RBI count from him in the future.

I think people forget how, as recently as 2023, fans wondered why on earth manager Oli Marmol kept betting on Burleson when the numbers weren't there. The expected metrics looked good, and advanced numbers kept saying Burleson was getting unlucky. Boy, were the Cardinals wise to keep sticking with Burleson.

Burleson has worked hard each year to improve his game, and now he's one of the best hitters in baseball while becoming a really good defensive first baseman.

Now it's on the Cardinals to find a way to extend their first baseman and keep him around long-term, as it is hard to imagine a world where the next contending version of the Cardinals does not involve Burleson's bat.

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