Sal Stewart had professional baseball players like Manny Machado and Yonder Alonso as a mentors while growing up in Miami, Florida. Machado has often referred to Stewart as his protégé, and both players have been known to train together during the offseason. Machado even provided Stewart with a congratulatory video message upon his promotion to the big leagues last September.
But the Cincinnati Reds rookie will have another veteran helping to show him the way in 2026. Stewart traded in his No. 43 jersey number from last year for No. 27, and because the Reds spring training lockers are in numerical order, he'll be right alongside the player wearing No.