Reds pitching staff must protect Sal Stewart before things gets ugly

Cincinnati Reds' slugger Sal Stewart was struck in the head by a 92 mph fastball on Thursday afternoon. Chicago White Sox pitcher Davis Martin came up and in with back-to-back heaters; the second of which hit Stewart in the helmet.

The Reds' rookie was none too pleased, pointed his bat in Martin's direction, and directed some coarse language toward the Chicago right-hander. The benches emptied, Stewart eventually made his way to first base after the hit-by-pitch, and Martin was ejected from the game.

You can't judge intent. The only player on that field who knows whether or not the pitch that struck Stewart in the head was meant to hit him is Martin, and he's going to deny it.

Reds manager Terry Francona shared his perspective after the game, and the skipper made no bones about it. He thought it was on purpose.

"I thought that was extremely blatant," Francona told the media after the Reds' 9-8 win over the White Sox. "You can’t throw two balls like that head-high. You'll kill somebody. I thought that was terrible.”

If that's truly the way Francona and the Reds feel, then it's time for the pitching staff to send a message to the opposition. While the old-school approach of you-hit-our-best-player-we're-going-to-hit-yours is frowned upon in today's game, the Reds have to protect their young star.

Reds' pitching staff must draw the line before Sal Stewart gets hurt

This may be a controversial take, but it's the way the game was played for over one hundred years. When a team's best player — and you can easily make the argument that Stewart has been that for the Reds this season — is hit by an opposing pitcher, it's up to the other pitching staff to take matters into their own hands.

Of course, there are a lot of variables at play with these methods. In this specific instance, had Reds' left-hander Andrew Abbott plunked White Sox's slugger Colson Montgomery during the bottom of the third inning, Cincinnati would've lost their starting pitcher.

Given what happened during the top of the inning, if Abbott would've retaliated, he would've been tossed. Then Francona would've had to cover the remaining six innings with his bullpen while the Reds are in the midst of playing 18 games in 17 days. That's not ideal. But neither is losing your prized rookie to injury.

Stewart is a brash, young player who plays the game with passion and a certain type of moxy that inevitably gets under the skin of the opponent. And there's little doubt that Stewart's admiration of his first-inning home run off Martin is what led to the incident in the third inning.

Reds broadcaster Jeff Brantley — a former pitcher himself — already alluded to this earlier this month. After Stewart was hit by a pitch in game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, The Cowboy spoke about the need to protect their young infielder.

"As we move along in the career of Sal Stewart, the Reds are going to have to protect him more," Brantley said. "You just can't have the opponents knocking down your best RBI guy. I don't care is he's a rookie. I don't care if he's brash. He's your teammate, and if they're going to throw that ball in there like that, then somebody on the other team is going to have to pay."

He's right. Stewart is a vital piece of the Reds' lineup, and that distinction is unlikely to change anytime soon. As such, the Reds pitching staff needs to protect him, and as Brantley said, somebody on the other team is going to have to pay.

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