Alec Burleson headshot

Alec Burleson

St. Louis Cardinals · 1B · through 2026-09-11

Elite season

Why he matters right now

Alec Burleson is top-10 in the majors in RBI, doubles and hits

He is 2nd in RBI at 106, 3rd in doubles at 35, 8th in hits at 159 — placements on MLB's own season boards, which rank every QUALIFIED hitter in the sport rather than the few dozen this site tracks. Qualified is MLB's own bar, and it is the reason a part-season player with a big number is not on these boards at all.

Same case as last night, moved numbers: his headline number went from 104 to 106 since September 10.

The case in 30 seconds

  • 106 2nd in RBI at 106, 3rd in doubles at 35, 8th in hits at 159 on MLB's season leaderboards MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
  • 106 106 RBI, past his previous best of 78 in 2024; 83 runs, past his previous best of 71 in 2024; 159 hits, past his previous best of 147 in 2024 year-by-year record, 3 prior seasons since 2023 (MLB Stats API, cached)

The honest caveat

It is still a partial season — 622 plate appearances so far. A rate moves fastest against the strongest arms a schedule has left, and the schedule ahead is not the schedule behind.

What to watch next

Next up: vs Chicago White Sox. 19 more to reach 125 RBI.

Every claim above, with its source (2)
  1. 2nd in RBI at 106, 3rd in doubles at 35, 8th in hits at 159 on MLB's season leaderboards MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
  2. 106 RBI, past his previous best of 78 in 2024; 83 runs, past his previous best of 71 in 2024; 159 hits, past his previous best of 147 in 2024 year-by-year record, 3 prior seasons since 2023 (MLB Stats API, cached)

Other cases this page considered and did not lead with: Alec Burleson has already passed his career best in RBI.

The evidence

Tracked on Live Chases

The score is an editorial score, not a measurement on a common scale. The rank above is this player's position on his own category's board — the ordering the site stands behind. See all tracked chases →

What changed last night

2 RBI W 7-3 vs Chicago White Sox · 2026-09-11 carries a .284 average into today

What to watch next

vs Chicago White Sox Busch Stadium · 7:15 p.m. ET Facing Sean Newcomb

Alec Burleson faces a left-hander in Sean Newcomb. He is hitting .211 with 3 home runs in 180 at-bats against left-handers this season.

Situational splits

SplitABAVGHRRBIOPS
vs RHP 379 .319 1971 .947
vs LHP 180 .211 335 .545
Home 269 .264 748 .745
Away 290 .303 1558 .888
Day 226 .314 749 .837
Night 333 .264 1557 .807

2026 season, MLB Stats API. A split with no plate appearances is omitted rather than shown as zeroes.

147G
559AB
159H
.284AVG
22HR
106RBI
4SB
352B
13B
.819OPS

Chasing .400

.284Current AVG
108Consecutive hits needed to reach .400
105-for-100Needed over next 100 AB
1.623Rest-of-season AVG to finish .400 (86-for-53)

Status: IMPOSSIBLE

Milestone tracker

ChaseTargetCurrentPaceNeeded from hereStatus
.350 AVG .350 .284 .284 1.057 ROS IMPOSSIBLE
.380 AVG .380 .284 .284 1.396 ROS IMPOSSIBLE
.400 AVG .400 .284 .284 1.623 ROS IMPOSSIBLE
.406 AVG .406 .284 .284 1.698 ROS IMPOSSIBLE
.466 AVG .466 .284 .284 2.396 ROS IMPOSSIBLE
50 HR 50 22 24 28 in 14 g · 1 per 1.9 AB EXTREME
60 HR 60 22 24 38 in 14 g · 1 per 1.4 AB EXTREME
62 HR 62 22 24 40 in 14 g · 1 per 1.3 AB EXTREME
70 HR 70 22 24 48 in 14 g · 1 per 1.1 AB EXTREME
73 HR 73 22 24 51 in 14 g · 1 per 1.0 AB EXTREME
200 Hits 200 159 174 41 in 14 g EXTREME
225 Hits 225 159 174 66 in 14 g EXTREME
250 Hits 250 159 174 91 in 14 g EXTREME
262 Hits 262 159 174 103 in 14 g EXTREME
50 SB 50 4 4 46 in 14 g EXTREME
80 SB 80 4 4 76 in 14 g EXTREME
100 SB 100 4 4 96 in 14 g EXTREME
130 SB 130 4 4 126 in 14 g EXTREME
50 2B 50 35 38 15 in 14 g EXTREME
60 2B 60 35 38 25 in 14 g EXTREME
67 2B 67 35 38 32 in 14 g EXTREME
20 3B 20 1 1 19 in 14 g EXTREME
25 3B 25 1 1 24 in 14 g EXTREME
36 3B 36 1 1 35 in 14 g EXTREME
125 RBI 125 106 116 19 in 14 g NEAR PACE
150 RBI 150 106 116 44 in 14 g EXTREME
175 RBI 175 106 116 69 in 14 g EXTREME
191 RBI 191 106 116 85 in 14 g EXTREME

How likely is the finish?

0%finishes with 40+ home runs
0%finishes with 50+ home runs
0%finishes with 60+ home runs

His rate of 35.370 home runs per 1,000 plate appearances is read as 34.410 after regressing toward the league's 30.170 — a leaderboard selects for players who have outperformed, so an unregressed rate projected forward overstates every one of them. That puts the expected finish at 23.7, against a straight team-game pace of 24. Exact beta-binomial over 59 remaining plate appearances, averaged across playing-time scenarios. Calibrated against Retrosheet finishes: within 7 points of observed frequency in every band, and within 2 in three of five. It is a model, not a measurement.

Home run pace vs the benchmark seasons

36730162 gJudge 62Bonds 7322
Cumulative home runs by team game against straight 62 (Judge 2022) and 73 (Bonds 2001) paces. The homepage checkpoint card uses the exact game-by-game Retrosheet curves; these reference lines are straight-line paces.
0.0%of comparable chases reached 40 HR
0.0%of comparable chases reached 50 HR
0.0%of comparable chases reached 60 HR

Empirical: seasons within ±2 HR of his total at the same team-game checkpoint (n=1726); median finish 23. Retrosheet.

Recent game log

Derived nightly from the snapshot ledger — each row is the difference between consecutive days; multi-day rows are labeled.

DateOppResultABHHRRBIRSBBBKAVG
2026-09-11 Chicago White Sox W 7-3 42 0 21 00 0 .284
2026-09-09 San Francisco Giants L 6-7 20 0 01 02 0 .283
2026-09-08 San Francisco Giants L 1-2 11 0 00 03 0 .284
2026-09-07 San Francisco Giants L 4-5 41 1 12 00 2 .283
2026-09-06 Colorado Rockies W 10-8 63 0 11 00 0 .283
2026-09-05 Colorado Rockies L 7-10 51 0 00 00 1 .280
2026-09-04 Colorado Rockies W 7-6 51 0 10 00 2 .281
2026-09-03 Los Angeles Dodgers L 2-3 20 0 00 00 2 .282
2026-09-01 Los Angeles Dodgers W 13-8 40 0 10 00 1 .283
2026-08-31 50 0 00 00 1 .285

Recent highlights

Lahman + Retrosheet context

How this season fits history

Historical twinKen Boyer · 1963

87% season-shape match

HR checkpoint-42 vs Barry Bonds

Through 148 team games; 64 in 2001

Chase history

.264.278.29304-0109-11
Batting average, day by day
21263104-0109-11
Projected HR, day by day