Under the Radar: Sal Stewart is Already Breaking Out

Major League Baseball and, in turn, fantasy baseball had an offensive explosion on Monday, where eight of 20 teams that played scored at least nine runs, and another three scored at least seven runs. Unfortunately, Sal Stewart and the Cincinnati Reds had an off day on Monday, so they weren’t involved in all of the offensive fireworks. A day with no game seems to be about the only thing slowing down Sal Stewart in his first 16 games of the season.

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The Sal Stewart Breakout

Just 22 years old, the Cincinnati Reds first baseman is already breaking out with a .309/.435/.600 line with four home runs and 10 RBI. How is someone so young, with fewer than 40 MLB games under his belt, hitting so well? Let’s dive in and look at baseball’s next great offensive first baseman.

All Sal Stewart Does is Hit the Ball Hard

Since Sal Stewart debuted for the Cincinnati Reds in September 2025, all he has done is hit the ball incredibly hard. Last year, he hit five home runs with an .838 OPS in 18 games after a late-season promotion. Stewart appears to be a mature hitter who is growing in his talent literally every single day.

Stewart is over the 90th percentile in xwOBA, barrel rate, hard-hit rate, walk rate, and average exit velocity. What that has done is take his actual and his expected statistics and thrown them into elite categories.

Baseball Savant’s Top Hitters in Expected Slugging Percentage (xSLG)

1. Yordan Alvarez (.858)
2. Jordan Walker (.799)
3. Francisco Alvarez (.746)
4. Ben Rice (.694)
5. Bryce Harper (.660)
6. Freddie Freeman (.635)
7. Sal Stewart (.623 – 98th percentile)

To be in the company of hitters like Alvarez, Harper, and Freeman at this age and with this little experience speaks volumes not only about his power and hitting ability but also about how strong his plate discipline has been so far in 2026.

If we wanted to pick some nits, it would be that his bat speed is only in the 31st percentile of hitters this season. That seems out of sorts with some of the production he has, especially hard contact. But what Stewart may lack in bat speed, he makes up for in his approach.

Stewart’s Contact and Plate Discipline are Still Improving

Sal Stewart came into the league with a solid track record at plate discipline and contact after his three minor league seasons. He had two seasons with a walk rate over 14%, and in 2025, his walk rate was “only” 9.3%.

When he debuted last season, it dipped, as would be expected. He had a 5.3% walk rate and a 26% strikeout rate in his first 18 games. Has that improved this year? Boy, has it ever. Stewart now has more walks (18.8%) than strikeouts (14.5%). His walk rate is in the 94th percentile of all Major League hitters. As a 22-year-old. With 34 career games played.

His contact quality, which was already great last year, has also improved. According to FanGraphs, Stewart swung at 76% of pitches in the heart of the zone last year and made contact with 88.6%. Those two things are predictive of quality contact. This season, he has improved both his swing rate in the heart of the zone (77%) and contact with those (89.4%).

Those changes may not look like much, but what they are doing is taking a great hitting profile and moving it close to elite territory. For comparison, Jose Ramirez swings at 70% of pitches in the heart of the zone and makes contact with 93% of them for his career.

Sal Stewart Is Producing in Every Category

Add up all of this under-the-hood production, and it has led to a very strong stat line to start the season. Stewart is hitting .309 with four home runs, 10 RBI, and three steals. As impressive as that sounds, it gets even better.

There are 10 first basemen with at least 40 at-bats hitting at least .300. Stewart is one of them. There are five first basemen hitting at least .300 with at least three home runs. Stewart is one of them. There is one first baseman hitting at least .300 with at least three home runs and at least three stolen bases. That player is Sal Stewart.

Sal Stewart with RISP so far in his career:

18 PA
.357/.500/.357
.404 wOBA
155 wRC+
22.2% BB

If Elly continues to get into scoring position for Sal, this team is going to win a good amount of ballgames in 2026 pic.twitter.com/pClFxnbxRW

— Baseball Unstitched (@BaseUnstitched) April 6, 2026

Stolen bases are not some kind of fluke for him either. Stewart has three minor league seasons with at least 10 steals, even though he is just 22 years old. At this pace, he is starting to track towards a Josh Naylor 2025 season (20 home runs and 30 steals).

Stewart is starting to get closer and closer to being universally rostered on most fantasy platforms, so he’s not necessarily a waiver wire recommendation. But if you were lucky enough to grab him in your draft or off waivers, this is not a sell-high situation unless you are selling REALLY high.

This kind of production could continue throughout 2026.