Cincinnati Reds infielder Sal Stewart is one of the organization's most important building blocks, but he's an afterthought among MLB executives compared to his peers. The 22-year-old received just 4.7 percent of the vote in a poll among those executives predicting the 2026 NL Rookie of the Year, per MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo.

St. Louis Cardinals infielder JJ Wetherholt led with 30.2 percent, followed by New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (25.6 percent), Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop/outfielder Konnor Griffin (16.3 percent), Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler (seven), Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Justin Crawford (4.7 percent), Stewart, and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Zhyir Hope (4.7 percent). Other players combined for 6.8 percent.

Mayo explained that while the bottom four players on the list all had under 10 percent of the vote, only two of them have MLB experience. The numbers next to their names are their rankings on MLB's 2025 Top Prospects list.

"Of the remaining four on the leaderboard, Bubba Chandler (MLB No. 14) and Sal Stewart (MLB No. 31) have big league time, while Justin Crawford (MLB No. 54) and Zyhir Hope (MLB No. 20) do not," he wrote. "Chandler should be in the Pirates’ rotation (and is the only player who got votes in last year’s poll to appear this time around), and Stewart in the Reds’ lineup, from Day 1 of the '26 season."

Stewart slashed .255/.293/.545 with five homers and eight RBIs over 18 games after getting his first big-league call up in September of last season. The 6-foot-1, 224-pounder also went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and one walk against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Wild Card Round.

Did Stewart deserve more of the vote share in the Rookie of the Year poll?

Stewart showed promise over a small sample size in the big leagues last season, but it won't mean much until he does the same over a full campaign in 2026. The Florida native will be fine if he plays anything like he did in the minors, as he slashed .289/.390/.466 with 40 homers and 202 RBIs over 323 games. 

Meanwhile, Wetherholt is MLB's No. 5-ranked prospect and slashed .346/.449/.563 with 52 homers and 248 RBIs over 339 minor-league games. The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder doesn't have big-league experience, but that level of minor-league production shows why he's more recognized than Stewart right now.

However, the latter player can change the narrative if he has a better campaign at the top level than his NL peers next season.