Sal Stewart hits three-run homer in victory

His towering first-inning homer led to Davis Martin throwing him close enough to bean him and get ejected in the third inning. Stewart also drew a walk and added another single. Stewart is now hitting .321/.367/.536 over his last seven games. Fantasy managers would love to see the legs moving again -- he only has one steal in his last 30 games -- but otherwise there’s not much to complain about here.

Stewart wallopped one of four solo bombs against the Athletics on the day, taking Mason Barnett 416 feet to left-center for his 25th homer of the season. Stewart is starting to heat up again, hitting .302/.371/.585 with five homers and a stolen base over his last 15 games after a mid-season swoon. He was a major steal in drafts this past offseason and figures to be in the top-five round discussion in 2027.

Stewart tagged Pirates’ ace Paul Skenes for a 409-foot (104.1-mph EV) two-run blast in the fourth inning that gave the Reds a 5-3 advantage. He then smacked a two-run single in the eighth inning that tied the game at 7-7 before scoring the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Nathaniel Lowe. The 22-year-old slugger is enjoying an outstanding rookie campaign, slashing .255/.334/.477 with 23 homers, 84 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 473 plate appearances.

Stewart is up to second in the majors with 79 RBI. That puts him on pace for 122, which would be the highest mark for a rookie since Albert Pujols drove in 130 runs in 2001. The highest totals for a rookie since then were 120 from Pete Alonso in 2019 and 114 from Aaron Judge in 2017. Ted Williams’ major league record of 145 as a rookie is obviously well out of reach.

The 22-year-old slugger has certainly earned a day off after hitting .251/.327/.468 with 21 homers, 75 RBI and 11 stolen bases across 449 plate appearances in what has been an extremely impressive rookie campaign. Nathaniel Lowe will start in his place at first base and will bat fifth for the Reds against Cardinals’ right-hander Kyle Leahy on Sunday.

Stewart took Eduard Barzardo deep, sneaking a 369-foot fly out to the opposite field. According to Statcast, it would have been a homer in 11 of the 30 ballparks. It was Stewart’s 21st of the year, and it upped his RBI total to 74. That’s fourth in the majors and just two shy of CJ Abrams and Jordan Walker for the league lead.

Stewart’s three-run homer came in the second inning and gave the Reds an early 8-1 cushion off a less-than-spectacular Ryan Feltner. In his first full season of MLB action, Stewart has now hit 20 homers in 98 games while driving in 70 runs, giving him a very realistic chance to have a 30-homer, 100-RBI season. There have been some lows to go with the highs, but it’s hard to not be impressed with what Stewart has done in 2026.

Stewart took this game over. First, with a two-run shot in the second inning that tied this game up after the Phillies jumped out to a quick leads. It was an impressive piece of hitting too as Stewart smacked a low-and-away fastball from Alan Rangel for an opposite field homer. Then, he was in the middle of the Reds’ back-to-back-to-back home runs in the fourth . Those two blasts gave him 19 on the season, which broke Frank Robinson’s 70 year old record for the most home runs by a Reds rookie before the All-Star break. That is one heck of an accomplishment for the first time All-Star who looks like a budding star.

Stewart swatted a solo blast off an otherwise-effective Brandon Sproat for his 16th homer of the campaign. The rookie infielder drove in another run with a double in the sixth off Sproat to score Elly De La Cruz. Stewart ended June with four homers and 22 RBI, and while there have been some ups and downs for him in his first full year in the majors, there have been more than enough ups to suggest good things will continue through 2026 and beyond.

Stewart put the Reds on the board early, taking Jared Jones deep for a solo homer in the first inning. He then drove in a second run with a base hit in the third before reaching on an error in the fifth. The 22-year-old slugger is up to 15 homers while slashing .252/.341/.454 with 43 runs scored, 57 RBI, and 11 steals across 352 plate appearances.