Sal Stewart's rise leaves Reds with a painful realization fans won’t like

On Monday night in St. Louis, Sal Stewart showed once again why he's the No. 1 prospect in the Cincinnati Reds farm system. The 21-year-old absolutely crushed a home run just below the second deck at Busch Stadium during the second inning of the Reds' 11-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. It was Stewart's fourth blast since being called up on September 1.

Since his arrival, Stewart has been everything the Reds could've asked for, and more. The rookie is hitting .297 with a .622 slugging percentage and a 140 OPS+. So that begs the question, did the Reds wait too long to promote Stewart to the big leagues?

The answer is obviously, yes. The Reds have been in the playoff hunt since the All-Star break, and it became even more apparent that they were going for it once the calendar flipped to August. Cincinnati added Ke'Bryan Hayes, Zach Littell, and Miguel Andujar at the MLB trade deadline because they believed they had a chance to make a run at the postseason.

Sal Stewart's rise is proof the Reds should've called him up sooner

On August 16, the Reds were four games over .500, trailed the New York Mets by just 1½ games in the chase for the final NL Wild Card spot, and had a 13.3% chance to make the playoffs. Fast-forward exactly one month, and Cincinnati is still in the hunt, but are two games back with 12 to play and the Reds playoffs odds are currently sitting at 7.8%.

Fans undoubtedly remember that stretch from mid-August through September 1 when the team looked absolutely dreadful. The Reds were struggling to score runs, and Stewart was crushing baseballs down in the minors. Cincinnati went 5-9 during that stretch; one that included five straight losses. The Reds scored three runs or less in seven of those 14 games and went 1-3 in one-run games before Stewart's call-up on September 1.

During that same span of time, while at Triple-A Louisville, Stewart hit .292/397/.604 with three doubles, four home runs, and 10 RBI. Don't you think the Reds could've used his bat in the lineup during that difficult stretch when they were struggling to put runs on the board?

Stewart's performance since his call-up is a painful reminder of what might have been. Though Cincinnati still has a chance to be part of the MLB Postseason, they'd almost assuredly be sitting in a better position if Nick Krall and the Reds front office had made the move to Stewart sooner.

If Cincinnati misses out on the playoffs, Reds fans will (and should) be furious with Krall for delaying Stewart's promotion to the big leagues. Keeping one of your best hitters tucked away in the minors — in all likelihood just to keep Terry Francona's favorite utility player, Santiago Espinal, on the roster, is a grievous error and one that should be sharply criticized if the Reds are sitting at home this October.

More Cincinnati Reds News and Rumors