When Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker eclipsed 100 RBI, they became the first homegrown Cardinals teammates to do so since Hall of Famers Stan Musial and Enos Salughter and Ray Jablonski accomplished the feat four times in the 1940s and '50s. Walker and Burleson were drafted by the Cards in 2020.
Any time a Cardinals player finds themselves on a list with Stan Musial – the legendary Hall of Famer with the largest, most unmistakable statue outside of Busch Stadium – they know that they have truly accomplished something great.
And, in this instance, Cardinals’ standouts Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker are on an exclusive list with not only Musial, but also Hall of Famer, four-time World Series champion and venerable No. 9 Enos Slaughter.
When Walker drilled a deep sacrifice fly to center to score Bryan Torres on Friday night, it gave him a career-best 100 RBI for the season. That allowed the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Walker to join Cincinnati infielder Sal Stewart (106) and Alec Burleson (102) as the only players in MLB with 100 RBI in 2026.
Burleson and Walker, both of whom were picked by the Cardinals in the 2020 MLB Draft, became the franchise’s first home-grown teammates with 100 RBI in the same season since Musial and Ray Jablonski, both of whom did it in the 1953 and ’54 seasons. Jablonski, who finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1953 and was an All-Star in 1954, drove in 112 and 104 runs in his first two MLB seasons with the Cardinals, but never did it again over his eight-year MLB career.
Before that, the other two homegrown Cardinals with 100 RBI in the same season were Musial and Slaughter, two players who did it in 1946 and ‘50 and would later be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and have their Nos. 6 and 9 retired by the Cardinals.
Slaughter, most famous for his “Mad Dash” while stealing home in Games 7 of the 1946 World Series win over the Yankees, drove in an MLB-most 130 runs in 1946 and another 101 runs in 1950. He finished his 13-year career with the Cardinals with a .305 batting average an .847 OPS, 146 homers and 1,148 RBI.
Musial, of course, was one of the most titanic figures in the game throughout a career that stretched from 1941-63 and was interrupted in the 1945 season because of his miliary service during World War II. In addition to driving in 100 runs 10 times, Musial was a three-time National League MVP, a three-time World Series MVP, a seven-time batting champ and a 24-time All-Star.
That’s the rarified air that Walker and Burleson – both enjoying career seasons with the Cardinals – now breathe. Prior to Burleson and Walker hitting triple digits in RBI, Paul Goldschmidt (115) and Nolan Arenado (103) were the last Cardinals teammates to have 100 RBI in the same season, doing so in 2022 when Goldschmidt won the NL MVP award and Arenado finished third.
If they can keep up their current pace, Burleson and Walker could become the first Cardinals teammates with at least 110 RBI in the same season since Albert Pujols (116 RBI) and Ryan Ludwick (113 RBI) in 2008.
Burleson, 27, had never driven in more than 78 runs (2024) in a season before topping the triple-digit mark in 2026. Walker, 24, finally shed his enormous struggles of the first three years of his career and he has started to live up to his massive potential in 2026 with career highs in nearly every major offensive statistical category.
Walker and Burleson rank either first or second on the Cardinals in seven major offensive categories, with the lead changing hands between them several times already in 2026. Walker has more hits (156-152), homers (28-21), a better batting average (.286-.280), slugging percentage (.499-.461) and OPS (.840-.804) than Burleson, while the first baseman leads the right fielder in RBI (102-100) and doubles (33-32).
