The Cincinnati Reds might have been able to use a few more Sal Stewarts in the lineup as they opened a season of higher expectations around here than they’ve had in decades.
They almost wound up with none.
The talented rookie’s season flashed before the organization’s eyes in the flash of a line-drive rocket off the bat of Roman Anthony in the fifth inning of the Reds’ Opening Day loss to the Boston Red Sox.
“At first I think he thought it was broken. You can tell by the way he reacted,” manager Terry Francona said. “He’s gonna be sore. That was a bullet. But I think we dodged a big bullet.”
The liner hit the exposed forward just above the heel of Stewart’s glove as he tried to backhand the shot.
“My arm just kind of went numb and it dangled,” said Stewart, who immediately dropped his glove, walked to the grass, pressed his hand to the ground, waited for the trainer and then asked one question: “Is it broken?”
“He said,’It doesn’t feel like it,’ and I was like, ‘OK, I’m not going anywhere. And I just kept playing,” Stewart said.
Playing?
He lined the next pitch he saw, in the sixth, for a single to right-center — a ball hit so hard it loaded the bases instead of scoring the runner from second.
He added a ground-rule double to right in his final at-bat, which made him 3-for-4, mostly against a pitcher, Garrett Crochet, many expect to be in the American League Cy Young conversation.
And that set a franchise record for Opening Day hits for a rookie since MLB established rookie distinctions in 1958.
“He’s a very good hitter,” said his manager, who watched the rest of his team combine for one hit.
Francona said Stewart was going to get re-examined by the medical staff after the game, but Stewart didn’t so much as have the arm wrapped as he spoke to media and scrolled/texted on his phone in the clubhouse in the 30-45 minutes after the game.
“He’s young, and he’s a pretty tough kid,” Francona said. “He’ll be OK.””
Stewart credited divine protection for surviving the 110-mph Anthony drive well enough to keep playing and thrive.
“The things that Jesus can do are for real,” he said.
As for the record performance?
“Just trying to help the team win,” he said.
Said veteran slugger Eugenio Suárez: “Sal is a pure hitter. I saw in spring training how good he is.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds avoided injury with rookie Sal Stewart scare
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
