Aug. 29, 2026, 12:30 a.m. ET
- Sal Stewart is reluctant to proceed speaking about his probabilities of successful Rookie of the Year.
- Stewart is the frontruner to win the award in the eyes of many, together with his teammates.
- Stewart had a house run and two RBIs in Friday’s victory over the Cubs, elevating his totals to 29 and 102.
CHICAGO – With close by teammates chanting “Roy,” Cincinnati Reds rookie Sal Stewart stood as much as deal with the media and area one more, maybe apparent, query about his Rookie of the Year candidacy.
“I’ve already talked about it. I don’t want to keep talking about it,” he mentioned, praising the opposite candidates. “Do I want to win it? Yes. If that’s your question. But I don’t want to keep bringing it back up. I want to focus on winning games. That’s not fair to these guys right here.”
Never thoughts the truth that it was “these guys” who introduced it up in the primary place on this present day.
Or the truth that Stewart’s going to be requested to do much more speaking much more usually about himself if and when his monumental hitting expertise begins placing him in MVP races and including a bunch extra All-Star appearances to his profession ledger.
For now, he’s the sort of participant who teammates are greater than prepared to marvel at — nonetheless every week shy of the anniversary of final 12 months’s big-league debut.
And the sort of participant whose very loud bat does loads of speaking — together with a twenty ninth house run and two extra RBIs to run his MLB-leading complete to 102 through the Reds’ 10-8 victory over the Cubs in their weekend sequence opener at Wrigley Field.
“It’s incredible,” teammate Tyler Stephenson mentioned. “It’s a hell of a first year and it’s been cool just to see him doing it every day. What, one homer away from 30? He’s been doing it all year. Any time guys are on, it’s like you know he’s going to get the job done.”
That’s the factor. That’s the stat.
In an period when analysts have dismissed the RBI as an vital stat, those that have been across the recreation sufficient to know the distinction proceed to explain one thing totally different about gamers reminiscent of Stewart, who odor scoring probabilities and infrequently modify method to hit the opposite approach or improve their potential to place the ball in play if the sport scenario requires it.
Certainly, placing up massive RBI numbers requires teammates to get on base and create the alternatives. But some gamers additionally thrive much more in these moments than others.
“You gotta drive in runs to win the game. So that’s kudos to my teammates for being there and kudos to my hitting coaches for helping me every single day,” Stewart mentioned. “I’m happy to be able to achieve that.”
If Stewart retains this up, he’ll turn into solely the third rookie in main league historical past to guide his league in that class, becoming a member of Ted Williams (1939) and Walt Dropo (1950).
More spectacular, he’d do it with one of many lowest-scoring groups in the majors.
“It’s remarkable. If I had a vote, he’s the Rookie of the Year,” veteran nearer Emilio Pagán mentioned. “Obviously I’m biased.
“But he’s not just one of the best rookie hitters. He’s one of the best hitters in the league.”
And this: “He’s getting stronger going down the stretch,” Pagán mentioned, “which is really hard for young players to do. You see it every year. A rookie will hit the proverbial wall in August or September. His at-bats just seep to be getting better.”
Not to say his intuition for looking an RBI.
Pagán in contrast Stewart to veteran teammates from his profession reminiscent of Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, Nelson Cruz, Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien and Manny Machado.
“Sal is right up there with every one of those guys,” Pagán mentioned.
In truth, Stewart’s common in what baseball-reference.com outlined as excessive leverage conditions was .337 getting into the Cubs’ sequence, with eight of his house runs and a 1.035 OPS.
Everything else: .269 with the 20 different homers and .778 OPS.
“Especially in the day and age where on-base percentage is such a big deal, it’s impressive,” Pagán mentioned of Stewart’s beyond-his-years really feel for the sport and what it takes to compete and make changes to win.
“To get get those RBIs, sometimes guys have to chase a little to drive in that run,” Pagán mentioned.
To really feel for the pitch he can deal with to knock in the run from third if that’s what it takes to win.
“He’s got that,” Pagán mentioned. “He’s got that sixth sense.”