Stewart's breakout start to the season gets rewarded.
Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart was named the National League Rookie of the Month for March and April on Monday, and it was not a particularly close race.
The 22-year-old out of Miami put together an opening month that landed him in the same conversation as some of baseball's all-time greats, which is a wild sentence to write about a player with fewer than 50 career games.
Stewart's April Was One for the Record Books
Through 31 games, Stewart hit .281 with nine home runs and 29 RBI while also collecting six doubles, 18 walks, 20 runs scored and seven stolen bases.
His .570 slugging percentage and .373 on-base percentage both ranked near the top among National League rookies, and his 29 RBI set a new franchise record for a Reds hitter before May.
The RBI number is the one that really pops.
Only three other rookies in MLB history reached eight home runs and 23 RBI before the calendar flipped to May, and all three went on to win Rookie of the Year.
Albert Pujols did it, José Abreu did it and Pete Alonso did it. Stewart just became the fourth.
That is what makes his start feel sustainable and how polished the approach already is.
He walked 18 times against 21 strikeouts through April, a ratio that most hitters in this league would take in a heartbeat.
Statcast backs it up too, with his contact quality grading out well above average while he sprays the ball to all fields instead of selling out to pull.
The Reds Are Rolling Because of Him
Cincinnati sits at 20-14 through May 4 and owns second place in a loaded NL Central, two games behind the Chicago Cubs.
They got there without ace Hunter Greene, who has been out since before Opening Day recovering from elbow surgery, and they recently lost Brandon Williamson to the injured list as well.
Stewart's bat has been the biggest reason the offense has stayed afloat.
Terry Francona slotted him into the cleanup spot on Opening Day, something the veteran manager had never done with a rookie in 25 years of managing, and Stewart has rewarded that trust every day since.
Why an All-Star Nod Feels Realistic
Forget the rookie label for a second. Stewart has flat-out been one of the better hitters in baseball, full stop.
His OPS sat above 1.000 for much of April and his nine home runs had him tied for fourth in the majors.
With Elly De La Cruz anchoring the lineup alongside him and the pitching staff finding creative answers without Greene, Cincinnati looks like a team that will be around all summer.
If Stewart is still producing like this come June, leaving him off the All-Star roster in Arlington would be hard to justify.