Cardinals Fans Irked by Reds Rookie being Playfully Compared to Pujols

St. Lous Cardinals' fans hold future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols in the highest of regard -- as in Pujols being right in line with franchise immortals Stan Musial, Bob Gibson and Ozzie Smith.

With that in mind, it's easy to see why Cards' fans were a bit sensitive when Reds' outfielder Dane Myers recently went on MLB Network Radio on SirusXM and revealed the new nickname he has brandished for Cincinnati infielder Sal Stewart, who won the National League Rookie of the Year award in convincing fashion this week.

"Salbert is an incredible person, first of all, and an incredible teammate. Man, I call him Salbert ... Salbert Pujols," Myers told the hosts who struggled to hold back their laughter upon hearing the nickname. "I can't even stop calling (Stewart) that because that's who he is. He's a good one, man. He knows he's good, but there's a lot of work and preparation that goes into his confidence. He's going to be a special player for a long time."

Stewart, 22, certainly had a special rookie season for the woeful Reds. An NL All-Star during his first full big-league season, Stewart batted .263 with a .787 OPS, 32 home runs and 112 RBIs while playing all 162 games. Stewart, who posted a 2.0 WAR and a 117 OPS+, was the first rookie to play all 162 games since Delmon Young of the Devil Rays in 2007.

While Stewart certainly had a strong season, it paled in comparison to how Pujols started his MLB career in 2001, the last time a Cardinals player won the National League's Rookie of the Year award. Just 21 years old, Pujols started off his career by slashing .329/.403/.610/1.013 with 37 homers, 47 doubles, four triples, 130 RBI, 194 hits and 112 runs scored. Pujols posted an eye-popping 6.6 WAR and a 157 OPS+. In addition to winning the Rookie of the Year award, he was named an All-Star, he won the Silver Slugger award and finished fourth in the NL MVP voting.

It was a very telling start for a player who would go on to become one of just four players in the history of the game with at least 700 home runs when he got to 703 career long balls while finishing his career with the Cardinals in 2022. Pujols won MVP awards in 2005 (129 runs, 41 homers and 117 RBI), 2008 (1.114 OPS, 37 homers and 116 RBI) and 2009 (1.101 OPS, 47 homers and 135 RBI), and he finished runner-up four other times. Also, he batted at least .300, hit at least 30 home runs and drove in at least 100 runs over the first 10 years of his career, and when he missed in 2011, he still batted .299 with 37 homers and 99 RBI.

When Myers objected to the rival Cardinals fans being so sensitive about the nickname he came up with for Stewart, one fan barked back that Pujols’ OPS+ didn’t dip lower than 117 (Stewart’s number in 2026) until his 12th season in the big leagues (116 in 2013).

Fans even playfully chided Myers for dropping a popup in the top of the ninth inning on Aug. 20 that would have sealed a Reds win over the Cardinals. Instead, the Cards rallied after the error and won the game in 10 innings.