CINCINNATI — The piping hot start by Sal Stewart has earned him his first weekly honor from Major League Baseball.
Before Monday’s game with the Pirates, the Cincinnati rookie first baseman was honored as the National League Player of the Week, ending Sunday.
The 22-year-old hit .700 (7-for-10) with a homer, two RBI, three doubles, three walks, two runs scored, a 1.300 slugging percentage and a .769 on-base percentage in three games. The Miami, Florida native tied for the Major League lead in doubles and extra-base hits (4); ranked second in OPS (2.069); ranked fourth in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging; and tied for sixth in total bases (13).
“I know he’s not gonna hit .650 or whatever he’s hitting – or maybe he will,” joked Reds skipper Terry Francona.
Ever since he began closely tracking his rise in the minors in the middle of last season, Francona has admired the 22-year-old’s maturity. This year is just a continuation.
“He prepares really well. I think he should be (Player of the Week),” Francona said. “He’s one of the most advanced young hitters I’ve ever seen. He uses the whole field. A lot of times you see guys come up and they strike out a ton. He doesn’t. He makes contact, but he hits the ball with authority.”
The 32nd overall pick in the first round of the 2022 Draft reached base 10 times in his first three games of the year, tied for third-most by a Reds player since 1900 behind Kal Daniels (11 in 1988) and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan (11 in 1976). His seven hits and 10 times on base are the most by a Reds rookie in the first three games of a season since 1958.
“Obviously, it’s great, and I’m super proud of myself,” Stewart said before Monday’s series opener.
But Stewart knows that’s just one accolade for three games of work. There’s 159 to to. “That’s in the past now, and now it’s time to go and play against the Pirates. I’m going to go out there and play hard for my team and help the team win.”
Indeed, Stewart didn’t sit on his laurels. He singled in his first at-bat Monday against Pittsburgh’s Braxton Ashcraft and worked a walk and scored Cincinnati’s first run in the fourth. He walked again to open the sixth, extending his on-base streak to seven plate appearances. He’s also getting it done in the field, starting a nice 3-6-3 double play in the sixth to help reliever Jose Franco in his big league debut after a leadoff single by Brandon Lowe.
The rookie first baseman became the sixth rookie in the expansion era (since 1961) to reach base at least three times in each of his club’s first three games of the season, and the first since Cleveland’s Steven Kwan in 2022. Regardless of rookie status, Stewart is the fifth Reds batter to achieve the feat (sixth occurrence), joining Hall of Famer Barry Larkin (2001), Daniels (1988), Morgan (1975 & 1976); and Ival Goodman (1937). Last season against the Dodgers, Stewart had two hits and became the first Reds rookie since RBI became an official stat in 1920 to tally three RBI in a Postseason game.
Stewart hammered a home run on Saturday, marking the sixth long ball of his career. His six home runs are tied with Chris Dickerson (2008), Josh Hamilton (2007) and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (1956) for second-most by a Red in his first 20 career games dating back to 1900. Aristides Aquino holds the club record with 11 homers in his first 20 career games spanning the 2018-19 seasons.
Stewart also won his first career award and is the first Reds player to win the award since Spencer Steer on June 30 of last year.
Correspondingly, rookie outfielder Chase DeLauter of the Cleveland Guardians was been named the American League Player of the Week after the 24-year-old hit .353 (6-for-17) with four homers, five RBI, five runs scored, with a 1.059 slugging percentage and a .353 on-base percentage in four games. This is the first time that rookies have been honored from each league in the same week since Aug. 11 of last season, when Luke Keaschall of the Minnesota Twins and Isaac Collins of the Milwaukee Brewers earned the honors.
Additionally, it is the second time a pair of rookies have won the first awards of the season, joining 2016 when Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies and Tyler White of the Houston Astros won the awards. Overall, DeLauter and Stewart are now two of six rookies to win Player of the Week for the Opening Week of a season since the award’s inception in 1974, joining Story, White, Salome Barojas of the Chicago White Sox (1982); and Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers (1981). It is the first time that Cleveland has earned the first award of the season since Albert Belle won on April 30, 1995, and the first time that Cincinnati has won the first award of the season since Kal Daniels on April 10, 1988.
It is the sixth time a Reds player has won the first award of the year (2026, 1988, 1984, 1983, 1980, 1979).
