<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/6af2892e84f24.image.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Cincinnati Reds\u2019 Sal Stewart celebrates after scoring on a sacrifice fly by Juan Brito during the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres on Sept. 1 in Cincinnati. Tanner Pearson \/ Associated press<\/p>\n
AP Photo\/Tanner Pearson<\/p>\n
Cincinnati Reds infielder Sal Stewart was named the 2026 NL Rookie of the Year, following through on a goal that he set back in spring training.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the back of my head, I always knew I could achieve it if I kept my head down and worked hard,\u201d Stewart said on Monday. \u201cLike I always told you guys the whole year, I was focused on winning games. The fans deserve it. The organization deserves it. As much as I wanted to think about it, I really tried not to. But I knew once I hit a certain point where it was really time to get going and make this undeniable, maybe halfway through this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
This season, Stewart slashed .263\/.330\/.457 with 32 home runs, 25 doubles and 112 RBI while appearing in each of the Reds\u2019 162 games. He said the number of games that he played is the number that he\u2019s most proud of.<\/p>\n
Every night, Stewart was a major presence in the middle of the Reds\u2019 lineup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI owe it to myself and to my teammates to know that if I\u2019m sick, tired, sore, hurt, I\u2019m going out there to give them the best chance to win. That\u2019s for my teammates. I want them to know that I\u2019m working hard for them, and they reciprocate it to me. This season didn\u2019t go the way we wanted. If I want to be the player I want to be for the organization (playing 162 games) is a stepping stone to show everybody I\u2019m willing to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2026, Stewart became the seventh Cincinnati rookie to earn an All-Star selection, and first Reds rookie position player to do so since Chris Sabo in 1988. Stewart has also been named a finalist for the Silver Slugger and Hank Aaron Awards.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very competitive,\u201d manager Terry Francona said during the season. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t give at-bats away. With two strikes, he becomes probably sometimes even more dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart finished with a sizable victory in the NL Rookie of the Year race, beating Carson Benge of the New York Mets and JJ Wetherholt of the St. Louis Cardinals.<\/p>\n
Winning the award gave Stewart an opportunity to reflect on his journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people didn\u2019t think I could,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cI love that. My whole life, I\u2019ve been doubted. When I got drafted, I had people on MLB Network saying it was a bad decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has proved himself right.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t forget any of those things,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cI wanted to prove those people wrong and show them they\u2019ve got me all wrong. I\u2019m a kid from Miami.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next step, he said is \u201c1,000%\u201d experiencing postseason success in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like sitting down watching the playoffs,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cI want to be playing in them. I\u2019ve got to figure out a way to help my team continue to do that\u2026 I know we\u2019re capable of it. We have the right guy at the helm. Tito knows what the expectation is. Honestly, he\u2019s the first one to make sure I\u2019m living up to it. If I\u2019m not, he\u2019s the first one calling me into his office making sure I live up to it. We know what it takes. We know what the expectation is. Losing is not fun. We do this to win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Reds\u2019 Sal Stewart celebrates after scoring on a sacrifice fly by Juan Brito during the eighth inning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":912020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-912019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/912020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}