Reds' inept offense can be summed up by one insane Sal Stewart stat

As Sal Stewart continues to make history and his National League Rookie of the Year case now clear to the most ardent of doubters, the Cincinnati Reds have arrived at an interesting dichotomy. They employ the best run producer in the league, yet rank 24th in runs scored. It's kind of hard to do that when you have such a prolific hitter in the middle of everything.

In fact, Stewart's RBI prowess has him yet again in elite company. He's accounted for 19.1% of all the runs Cincinnati has driven in, giving him the highest percentage of a team's RBIs by a player 22 or younger since Reds legend Johnny Bench in 1970.

It's both encouraging and depressing to have one player do so much heavy lifting. It speaks volumes about Stewart's talent, but also further underscores Cincinnati's offensive ineptitude this year.

Stewart gets progressively better at the plate the more likely a run is to be scored. He's hit .254 with the bases empty, .279 with runners on, and .317 with runners in scoring position. He's also slugging .612 with runners in scoring position, once again, the highest mark of any situation for him, proving that he's not doing this with cheap singles.

Stewart is also developing quite the clutch gene. In high-leverage situations, he's hitting .359/.426/.590. His .231 ISO in high-leverage is, yet again, the highest mark he's posted in any situation. Get this man into the thick of a playoff race, and he's going to be a difference maker.

Sal Stewart's dominance over the Reds' run production won't last, and that's a good thing

Another reason that Stewart is able to drive in such a large share of the Reds' runs has to do with the fact that the rest of the team is abysmal at situational hitting. The club owns a league-worst .218 batting average with runners in scoring position. The amazing thing is that it includes Stewart's exceptional performance. Take him out, and things look even more putrid.

It's part of the reason why Reds director of hitting and big league hitting coach Chris Valaika needs to go this offseason. Situational hitting was a point of emphasis for Valaika when he joined Terry Francona's staff ahead of the 2025 season, and what he's doing clearly isn't working.

There is a silver lining, though. Stewart is only going to get better as time goes on, and he's not alone as a young hitter with potential in the Reds' lineup. Obviously, Elly De La Cruz is a stud, and it's hard to believe that he's just 24 years old. He's still just scratching the surface of his potential, too.

Then there's Héctor Rodriguez. The 22-year-old outfielder has impressed over his first month of MLB action, posting a .240/.305/.480 line with five homers. He's been even hotter over his last 10 contests, recording hits in nine of them and slashing .341/.400/.756.

That's a pretty nice, young nucleus to build around. That building process might not take too long, either. Between expiring contracts and dead money coming off the books, Cincinnati is about to free up $62.8 million in payroll. Now, some of the impending free agents like Tyler Stephenson and Brady Singer may be guys that they want to re-sign, while they'll have to reserve some cash for arbitration raises.

However, the Reds will have some ammunition to upgrade their lineup either via free agency or in trades to supplement the young core that they're building. If they spend their money wisely, it's easy to see how this could transform into a productive and fearsome unit with Stewart at the center of it all, and he won't have to do all the heavy lifting himself.

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