Sal Stewart, 2026 Fantasy Outlook

Here’s what Itch said in his Reds top 10 prospects list, “The 32nd overall pick in 2022, Sal Stewart enjoyed a breakout season in 2025, slugging more than .500 for his first time as a professional. At 6′ 1″ 224 lbs. with plus plate skills, he’s always had latent power that could make him a force in fantasy baseball. He likes to run and stole 17 bases in 20 attempts across two minor league levels, but he’s not fast: 14th percentile sprint speed, according to Statcast. Don’t have to be fast to steal some bags these days, and Stewart will probably find a half-dozen or so free bases even early in his career as he did in this year’s postseason. In 138 total games across three levels, he hit 25 home runs and stole 18 bases while hitting .300 with a great strikeout-to-walk rate. Should open next season as a Rookie of the Year frontrunner, just as I hunt down and run over Grey.” I’m sorry, what? J.J. Wetherholt, the first guy I went over in the 2026 fantasy baseball rookies series, or Sal Stewart, who will be better in 2026? That was debated by me for about sixteen seconds. In the end, after much deliberation, I don’t want to get hung up too long on who is written up first. Sal Stewart is better than Wetherholt this year? Yeah, maybe. There’s other guys I will go over next who might be better too. Stewart will be in the running for top prospect, and, brucely, that’s all that matters for redraft leagues. So, what can we expect from Sal Stewart for 2026 fantasy baseball?

Sal Stewart plays a position that the Reds have never had a guy for: Cornerman. Sorry, scratch that. Reds have 17 cornermen in search of one guy who can play outfield. Here’s what I said when he was called up, “A creepy guy in a long trench coat, “Hey, wanna see something?” He flashes open his coat and inside the coat is dozens of corner infielders. That’s the Reds. They are the horniest anyone’s ever been for a corner infielder. Honestly, I didn’t even know that was a fetish, but I am not here to yuck anyone’s yum. Stewart looks like an excellent flyer for all leagues, as he went 20/17/.309, but that’s contingent on him getting ABs. We’ve been down this road before with the Reds’ cornermen: Jeimer, Noelvi, Ke’Bryan, Steer, Andujar, CES, Connor Joe, Lux, and that’s just this year. Close your trench coat, Reds, ya perv!” And that’s me quoting me! That the Reds called Stewart up already gives me great hope, like someone misremembering the first Star Wars movie. Remember: At-bats are king. That the Reds have disappointed me multiple times with cornermen concerns me even if it shouldn’t. How does CES relate to Sal? Pulls straw out of mouth, with a deep Southern accent, “Sal if I know!” But he does! I think. Stewart’s five homers in only 55 ABs this year with the Reds shows the power, these videos also show it:

Sal Stewart belts a homer off the second deck ? pic.twitter.com/XRjS1cD4vr

— MLB (@MLB) September 16, 2025

And:

Better call Sal!

Stewart goes the other way for his 5th homer of the season ? pic.twitter.com/DW19JMiHzt

— MLB (@MLB) September 28, 2025

On a merely eyeball level — as in me eyeballing him — I don’t see Sal Stewart matching his 17 steals he had in the minors last year. The Naylor 27 says anyone can steal 27 bags if they want, so I don’t know maybe Sal runs a bunch, but he looks like a five-steal guy on the eyeballing. The power is real and the Reds seem to make all of their prospects hit .240 or lower with bad contact, so there’s that. Is Sal a 30-homer, .230 hitter with five steals or is he a 22-homer, .250 hitter with ten steals? Or something in-between? That’s the question for him. I’m going to be conservatively optimistic because I like Stewart’s skill set late in drafts and he was called up already, i.e., a 30-homer possibility at corner is interesting with an everyday job. For 2026 fantasy baseball, I’ll give Sal Stewart projections of 63/26/71/.241/6 in 488 ABs with a chance for more.