86% season-shape match
Why he matters right now
Alec Burleson leads the majors in RBI
Through 160 games he is first in RBI — the kind of line that decides awards.
This has been his headline for 47 straight days.
The case in 30 seconds
- 116 No. 1 in RBI on MLB's own leaderboards — 116 RBI MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
- 116 116 RBI, past his previous best of 78 in 2024; 89 runs, past his previous best of 71 in 2024; 26 home runs, past his previous best of 21 in 2024; 169 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 — 670 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.
Every claim above, with its source (3)
- No. 1 in RBI on MLB's own leaderboards — 116 RBI MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
- No. 1 in RBI on MLB's leaderboard MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
- 116 RBI, past his previous best of 78 in 2024; 89 runs, past his previous best of 71 in 2024; 26 home runs, past his previous best of 21 in 2024; 169 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
- 55 Triple Crown (NL) Notable · WATCH only one tracked
- 53 RBI Notable · WATCH No. 1 of 3rbi chases 116 record 191 — Hack Wilson, 1930 116projected, against 125 · impossible
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 →
Situational splits
| Split | AB | AVG | HR | RBI | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs RHP | 412 | .311 | 23 | 76 | .939 |
| vs LHP | 193 | .212 | 3 | 40 | .549 |
| Home | 296 | .260 | 8 | 53 | .739 |
| Away | 309 | .298 | 18 | 63 | .890 |
| Day | 242 | .306 | 8 | 53 | .828 |
| Night | 363 | .262 | 18 | 63 | .809 |
2026 season, MLB Stats API. A split with no plate appearances is omitted rather than shown as zeroes.
160G
605AB
169H
.279AVG
26HR
116RBI
4SB
372B
13B
.816OPS
Chasing .400
.279Current AVG
122Consecutive hits needed to reach .400
113-for-100Needed over next 100 AB
—Rest-of-season AVG to finish .400 (73-for-0)
Status: IMPOSSIBLE
Milestone tracker
| Chase | Target | Current | Pace | Needed from here | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .350 AVG | .350 | .279 | .279 | — | IMPOSSIBLE |
| .380 AVG | .380 | .279 | .279 | — | IMPOSSIBLE |
| .400 AVG | .400 | .279 | .279 | — | IMPOSSIBLE |
| .406 AVG | .406 | .279 | .279 | — | IMPOSSIBLE |
| .466 AVG | .466 | .279 | .279 | — | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 50 HR | 50 | 26 | 26 | 24 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 60 HR | 60 | 26 | 26 | 34 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 62 HR | 62 | 26 | 26 | 36 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 70 HR | 70 | 26 | 26 | 44 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 73 HR | 73 | 26 | 26 | 47 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 200 Hits | 200 | 169 | 169 | 31 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 225 Hits | 225 | 169 | 169 | 56 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 250 Hits | 250 | 169 | 169 | 81 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 262 Hits | 262 | 169 | 169 | 93 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 50 SB | 50 | 4 | 4 | 46 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 80 SB | 80 | 4 | 4 | 76 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 100 SB | 100 | 4 | 4 | 96 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 130 SB | 130 | 4 | 4 | 126 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 50 2B | 50 | 37 | 37 | 13 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 60 2B | 60 | 37 | 37 | 23 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 67 2B | 67 | 37 | 37 | 30 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 20 3B | 20 | 1 | 1 | 19 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 25 3B | 25 | 1 | 1 | 24 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 36 3B | 36 | 1 | 1 | 35 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 125 RBI | 125 | 116 | 116 | 9 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 150 RBI | 150 | 116 | 116 | 34 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 175 RBI | 175 | 116 | 116 | 59 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 191 RBI | 191 | 116 | 116 | 75 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
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 38.810 home runs per 1,000 plate appearances is read as 37.320 after regressing toward the league's 30.200 — 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 26.0, against a straight team-game pace of 26. Exact beta-binomial over 0 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
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=1279); median finish 26. Retrosheet.
Recent game log
Derived nightly from the snapshot ledger — each row is the difference between consecutive days; multi-day rows are labeled.
| Date | Opp | Result | AB | H | HR | RBI | R | SB | BB | K | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-01 (6d) | — | — | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .279 |
| 2026-09-25 | Milwaukee Brewers | L 4-8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .280 |
| 2026-09-24 | Pittsburgh Pirates | L 1-2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .279 |
| 2026-09-23 | Pittsburgh Pirates | W 5-1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .279 |
| 2026-09-22 | Pittsburgh Pirates | L 0-2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .280 |
| 2026-09-20 | Washington Nationals | W 5-3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .282 |
| 2026-09-19 | Washington Nationals | L 5-8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .284 |
| 2026-09-18 | Washington Nationals | L 1-9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .283 |
| 2026-09-16 | San Francisco Giants | L 5-6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .284 |
| 2026-09-15 | San Francisco Giants | L 3-10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .285 |
Recent highlights
Lahman + Retrosheet context
How this season fits history
Through 162 team games; 73 in 2001