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2026 Fantasy Baseball Player Profile

Sal Stewart’s 2025 season was a meteoric rise that saw him jump from Double-A to the heart of a major league postseason race in just five months. After being named the Southern League MVP at Double-A Chattanooga, Stewart demolished Triple-A pitching (1.000+ OPS) before receiving a September 1 call-up. In his brief 18-game MLB debut, he lived up to the hype, slashing .255/.293/.545 with 5 home runs in just 55 at-bats. While he initially struggled with strikeouts (25.9%), his elite 114 mph maximum exit velocity and a staggering 52.5% hard-hit rate proved that his power translates to the highest level.

Entering 2026, the 22-year-old is the consensus No. 1 prospect in the Reds' organization and a frontrunner for National League Rookie of the Year. The biggest headline in Goodyear is his physical transformation; Stewart shed 26 pounds this offseason to improve his agility and defensive versatility. This weight loss has allowed manager Terry Francona to experiment with him at Second Base, where he started the Reds' Cactus League opener on February 21, though he remains the heavy favorite to be the team's primary First Baseman. With the addition of Ke’Bryan Hayes at third and Eugenio Suárez at DH, Stewart’s ability to handle the right side of the infield is the key to keeping his "gifted" bat in the lineup every day.

For fantasy managers, Stewart is a high-upside breakout candidate with an ADP around 198.