PHILADELPHIA − You couldn’t possibly have thought Cincinnati Reds rookie Sal Stewart would make an out in his first MLB All-Star Game at-bat.
Not the Stewart who singled on the fifth pitch of his MLB debut last September. Never the Stewart who about a month later worked a bases-loaded walk at Dodgers Stadium in his first postseason plate appearance.
Of course that same productive, methodical Stewart calmly worked a 3-0 count and eventually earned a two-out walk in the seventh inning of the 96th MLB All-Star Game at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.
That walk made Stewart something of a standout performer among his NL peers as the team amassed a grand total of five base runners by game’s end. The team collected three hits and two walks in a 4-0 American League win.
“That was probably one of the best experiences of my life,” Stewart said. “Just being on the field with so many great players. It’s something that hopefully God gives me the ability to do a lot more because I had a great time.”
Expect anything different from Stewart? You shouldn’t have. For some ball players, the MLB All-Star Game offers a sense of belonging, or of officially having arrived. But Stewart’s been delivering since that Sept. 1, 2025 debut at-bat, and for most of the time since then.
A year ago at this time, Stewart was still just considered a top Reds prospect. He was certainly ascending rapidly as a prospect, but he was still prospect nonetheless. In fact, he had just been promoted to Triple-A Louisville coming out the 2025 Futures Game in Atlanta.
In the year since, Stewart was promoted to the Reds’ big-league roster as a September call-up, made a dent against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Cincinnati’s brief stay in the postseason and experienced his first MLB Opening Day.
Stewart, still just 22 years old and a leading candidate for National League Rookie of the Year, can now check the All-Star Game off his growing list of career achievements.
“Every experience has its own kind of good feel to it,” Stewart said. “When you’re a minor leaguer, obviously you want to be in the Futures Game and I was able to accomplish that. I don’t really like to compare. I just like to enjoy − enjoy where I’m at, where my feet are and that’s exactly what I did.”
With teammate, close friend and fellow first-time All-Star Chase Burns looking on from the top step of the NL dugout at Citizens Bank Park in front of an announced crowd of 43,816, Stewart entered the 2026 Midsummer Classic at third base in the top of the fifth inning. He remained there for the rest of the game.
Stewart’s glove never came into play as he wasn’t required to field any batted balls. In the seventh inning, Stewart took his walk against Tampa Bay Rays righty Drew Rasmussen, and Rasmussen then exited the game.
It was a quintessentially “Stewart” moment, particularly given the NL was trailing 3-0 at that point. He’d displayed plenty of power during previous games at Citizens Bank Park, but he didn’t go hunting. Instead, he took the solid end product available to him.
With Burns unavailable after scratching himself from the contest to avoid furthering concerns about a groin injury, Stewart’s time on-field was the sum total of Cincinnati’s contribution to the All-Star Game. It was an event heavy on patriotism given the location of the game and the U.S. celebrating 250 years.
By chance, the NL’s fifth and final baserunner came with two outs in the ninth inning, and gave Stewart one final at-bat. It was the last at-bat of the game as Stewart chopped a ball high into the air, forcing Rays closer Bryan Baker to descend the mound, field it, and throw to rookie White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakame for the put-out.
By then, the stadium had already started to empty. MLB’s midsummer circus was packing up, and Stewart would be reassembling his pinstripe in the NL clubhouse in the next 30 minutes. Soon, he, Burns and the rest of the Reds will greet the final 67 games of the 2026 regular season.
Stewart said he would do so having picked up a few pointers during his time in Philadelphia.
“We had a talk (as a team) and a lot of veterans spoke,” Stewart said. “It was great to hear what they had to say. Just their perspective.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What Sal Stewart took away from his first MLB All-Star Game
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
