Rookie of the Year Sal Stewart: The Award Doesn't Define Him
Stewart played all 162 games for the Reds, hit 32 home runs and drove in 112 runs on a team that finished last.
Sal Stewart, first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, was named National League Rookie of the Year in November 2026, according to Sports Spectrum. He received 20 of the 30 first-place votes.
The numbers explain the vote: 164 hits, 32 home runs, 112 RBIs and a .263 batting average. He made the All-Star Game. And he did all of it on a team that finished last in the NL Central with a 75-87 record.
A rookie who played all 162
Stewart played all 162 games of the season. He became the first rookie since 2007 to play every game for his team.
«Awards sit on a shelf; identity is something you carry every day.»
Only one other Reds rookie, Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, topped 30 home runs in his first season. Stewart's 164 hits are the most by a rookie in club history since Pete Rose in 1963, and his 112 RBIs are a franchise record for a debutant and the third-highest total in the major leagues.
Cincinnati drafted him 32nd overall in 2022, straight out of high school. He debuted on September 1, 2025, with a hit in his first game, and he arrived in 2026 with 18 regular-season games and two playoff games under his belt. He is 22 and was born in Miami.
The award doesn't define him
When MLB Network asked him about the trophy, he didn't talk about his batting average. He said he told himself that this award doesn't define him, because that's how he was raised; that he worked hard and did what he could. And he added that he knows Jesus is with him, that he has all the protection he needs, and that all that's left is to go out and be who he is.
It wasn't a throwaway line. In April, after his first two-homer game, he told MLB Network that Christ is his Lord and Savior, that He changed his life, and that his dream is no longer to reach the major leagues but to give glory to His name.
In July, during the All-Star Game, CBN Sports asked him where he places his identity. "When my identity is in Christ, I always know who I am," he answered (translated by Sígueme).
Near the end of the season, in an NBC Sports interview after a 7-5 win over the Cubs, he said he doesn't chase numbers and firmly believes Jesus has a plan for him. In that same game he had hit a home run, pointed to the sky and told the cameras that Jesus is King.
When the standings don't prove you right
There is an old temptation, in sports and in faith: believing the scoreboard tells you who you are. If you win, you matter; if you lose, you don't. Stewart played on a team that lost 87 times, and he still showed up all 162 days.
That doesn't make him a better person or earn him anything before God. Worth doesn't come from the uniform or the trophy. But it does show something about work well done: it doesn't depend on the result, but on who you do it for. "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men" (Colossians 3:23, ESV).
For 2027, Stewart wants to take the Reds beyond the wild-card round, something the club hasn't done since 2012. Awards sit on a shelf; identity is something you carry every day.
This week, before checking the standings, try one concrete step: write down in a note what defines you. If the answer depends on the next result, the next result will run your life. And what defines you when you lose?
