Cincinnati Reds rookie Sal Stewart wins National League Player of Week
· Yahoo Sports
Cincinnati Reds rookie Sal Stewart spent the first series of the season hitting .700 without so much as a strikeout.
And on Monday, he was rewarded with the National League Player of the Week award.
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“Obviously, it’s great, and I’m super proud of myself,” Stewart said. “But that’s in the past now, and now it’s time to go and play against the Pirates.”
Stewart is the first Red to win the award since Spencer Steer last June and the first Reds rookie to win it since Rece Hinds in his first week in the majors in July 2024.
“When you play good baseball sometimes these things happen,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “He’s extremely confident. If I could hit the ball like that I would be, too.
“But he backs it up. He prepares really well. I think he should be.”
Francona repeatedly has called Stewart, 22, an “advanced” hitter since first seeing him in spring training last year.
“He uses the whole field,” the manager said. “A lot of times you see guys come up and they strike out a ton. He doesn’t. He makes contact, but he hits the ball with authority.”
Stewart, who led the Reds in home runs during his September debut last season and earned a playoff start, was 7-for-10 in the Reds’ series win over the Boston Red Sox, with a home run, three doubles and three walks.
“I just feel like I was swinging at good pitches and sticking to my approach and my game plan,” Stewart said. “Obviously, it was a great weekend, but I’ve just got to keep doing that every cay and sticking to who I am as a player. I’m happy with how I played, but more importantly, I’m happy that we got the series win.”
Two of his three hits on Opening Day came after he was drilled on the forearm by a 110-mph line drive in the fifth inning while covering first. He said he wondered at first if it was broken, then stayed in the game.
When asked about Stewart's performance in the three-game series following Sunday's win, Francona said, "I know he's not gonna hit .650 or whatever he's hitting – or maybe he will."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds rookie Sal Stewart wins National League Player of Week