Sal Stewart 'surprise' label is just another sign the Reds are overlooked

So far in 2026, the Cincinnati Reds haven't gotten the recognition they deserve. Whether it's the projection systems snubbing their playoff chances, rival executives looking down upon them, or a failure of the national media to recognize that this is a dangerous team that hasn't even played its best baseball yet. The Reds continue to be underestimated.

Even when they receive recognition — like a recent poll of MLB executives naming Sal Stewart the runner-up for most surprising player so far this season — it's really a backhanded compliment.

Stewart has been fantastic with nine homers, seven steals, and a .281/.373/.570 line through 31 games. To name him a surprise is to say that you didn't believe he could produce at this level from the outset.

While it's not always fair to count on a rookie to be elite from day one, Reds fans aren't surprised by what he's done because he's been telling us about his skills all along.

Sal Stewart's meteoric rise isn't surprising to Reds fans

To be a true surprise player, you have to reach heights that no one expected from you. If you look at the two players who flank Stewart in the poll — Jordan Walker and Jose Soriano — you'll see two classic examples.

Walker was a former top prospect who flubbed opportunities for three straight years. He has eight homers over 29 games in 2026 after connecting on just six long balls in 111 contests last season. Entering this year, he had subtracted 0.9 fWAR from St. Louis over parts of three seasons. That's a surprise, because he had failed over multiple opportunities

Soriano is different, but still surprising. Since becoming a full-time starter in 2024, he pitched to a 3.93 ERA heading into this year. That made him a solid, mid-rotation arm, but not one without flaws. His 2025 campaign (4.26 ERA) was also significantly worse than his injury-abbreviated 2024 season (3.42 ERA). No one saw him coming out and being the most dominant starter in the league over his first seven starts of 2026.

Back to Stewart. He has a pedigree as the second pick of the compensatory round between the first and second rounds of the 2022 MLB Draft. He was the 32nd player taken overall in the draft, and he hit at every stop in the minors, getting better as the quality of competition increased.

Before his September call-up, the youngster hit a combined .309/.383/.524 with 20 homers and 17 steals between Chattanooga and Louisville. If you factor out just his time in Triple-A, you see an eye-popping .315/.394/.629.

Then, in 18 games last September, he clubbed five dingers and slashed .255/.293/.545 while making the postseason roster in the process. He played just two games against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Wild Card Series, but his four RBI and .500/.600/.500 showing in front of a national audience was the exclamation point to a stellar year all around.

So why are we surprised now? These executives haven't been paying attention for a good long while. Back in January, MLB.com polled these team executives about Rookie of the Year candidates in both leagues. Stewart finished a distant fourth, tied with light-hitting speedster Justin Crawford for just 4.7% of the vote.

Now, Stewart might be poised to blow past the NL Rookie of the Year award in search of something grander and more historic. If he keeps hitting the way he has, by season's end, he should be garnering real MVP consideration.

That is a surprise, granted, but Stewart being a star from day one is not. He left multiple clues throughout his rise that this would happen. Reds fans picked up on them. The rest of the baseball world did not.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow