Earlier this week, I was purusing the Fantrax hitter player rater to see who the top offensive players are as we inch closer to the second half of the season. There were a lot of familiar names, of course: Shohei Ohtani, James Wood, Nick Kurtz, and Yordan Alvarez. There were also several unexpected players who have gotten a lot of headlines: Jordan Walker, Ben Rice, Byron Buxton, and Andy Pages, for example.
And then there was one name that shocked me. The 17th-best hitter in rotisserie baseball in 2026 is the Cincinnati Reds’ Sal Stewart. Can that be true? Stewart is hitting .253/.344/.455 with 14 home runs, 11 steals, and 53 RBI heading into Monday’s game. Is that enough to be in the top 20?
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With Elly De La Cruz just getting back from a hamstring injury, Stewart is, without a doubt, the best hitter on his team right now. To say Sal Stewart has stepped up his game in 2026 (as a 22-year-old) is an understatement. Let’s look at how Stewart, with less than a year of experience, has taken his game to a different level entirely this season and used his new full-time role, splitting time between first and third base, to help.
The Sal Stewart Breakout Season
At 22 years old (Stewart is younger than players like James Wood!), and just in his first full professional season, the Cincinnati Reds first baseman is officially breaking out. How is someone who has never played in the Major Leagues before late last year hitting so well? Let’s dive in and look at one of baseball’s most unheralded offensive stars through 13 weeks.
Stewart Is Becoming More Selective This Year
The first piece of Stewart’s breakout is his improved ability to avoid chasing pitches outside the strike zone. Chase rate is one of the most important metrics for young hitters because it directly impacts walk rate, strikeout rate, and the quality of contact.
Stewart’s improved chase tendencies have helped explain the dramatic improvement in his overall hitting profile. Instead of consistently offering at bad pitches, he has become better at identifying pitches he can drive and make contact with. That improvement has directly contributed to his walk rate jumping from 5.2% in 2025 to 12.4% in 2026, while his strikeout rate has fallen from 25.9% to 20.5%.
This is especially important because pitchers will eventually adjust to any young hitter who starts producing, including Stewart. The ability to lay off borderline pitches and wait for mistakes is what separates young, flash-in-the-pan breakouts from sustainable fantasy stars. Stewart’s combination of improved chase control, elite contact quality, and strong power makes him one of the most improved fantasy hitters despite his young age.
Stewart Has Maintainted Elite Hard-Hit and Barrel Rates
The most exciting part of Stewart’s breakout is that his new selective plate discipline is now leading to elite contact. While fantasy managers often focus on home runs and RBI totals, Stewart’s Statcast metrics show this hitter’s underlying skills are sustainable. Stewart’s batted-ball profile suggests he is not just riding a hot streak, but he is creating the type of contact that leads to strong power production.
In 2026, Stewart has produced a 41.2% hard-hit rate and a 15.0% barrel rate. The league-average barrel rate sits far below that mark, meaning Stewart is over the 90th percentile in that metric. Barrels are the combination of exit velocity and launch angle, and hitters who consistently generate them usually develop into consistent power hitters.
What makes Stewart’s profile especially interesting is that his barrel rate has remained strong even as pitchers have adjusted to him and as his eye has gotten more selective. After producing a 17.9% barrel rate in his small 2025 sample, Stewart has maintained a 15.0% mark with a much larger workload.
For fantasy managers, the combination of improved plate discipline and elite contact quality is exactly what creates breakout hitters, even at this age. A player who can both wait for pitches and punish mistakes has a much higher floor than your run-of-the-mill power hitter. Stewart has shown the ability to do damage without needing to sell out for power.
Stewart’s Exit Velocity is Trending the Right Way
So what has all that plate discipline and barrel ability given Sal Stewart? Exit velocity. Exit velocity is one of the clearest indicators of a hitter’s offensive ability because it measures how much damage a player can create when he squares up a pitch. Stewart’s numbers show that he belongs among some of the best hitters in baseball in terms of pure impact. His average exit velocity is up to the 77th percentile.
During his 2025 debut, Stewart posted a crazy 95.4 mph average exit velocity, immediately putting him among the hardest hitters in the league. In 2026, his average exit velocity has settled at 90.6 mph, but that is still well above league average and continues to support his power profile. More importantly, his maximum exit velocity has remained impressive at 111.4 mph, proving he still has the raw strength to produce some of the game’s best contact.
The biggest takeaway from all of this positive improvement this season is that Stewart is starting to create offense that is well beyond his years. His power comes from consistently hitting the ball hard, not simply taking advantage of favorable parks (where he does play 81 home games) or mistakes from pitchers. When a hitter combines above-average exit velocity with a strong barrel rate, fantasy managers can usually expect continued extra-base production.
The exciting part of Stewart’s profile is that his home run totals could actually have room to grow. His underlying contact numbers suggest a hitter with legitimate 25-plus home run upside. Add in a potential 20 steals, 100 RBI, and multi-eligibility, and you could be looking at one of baseball’s next stars.
And no one is talking about him.
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