Sal Stewart Is the Most Outstanding Rookie In The National League

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Sal Stewart was recognized by his peers as the Most Outstanding National League Rookie in the Players Choice Award by the Major League Players Association.

Stewart led all rookies in MLB with 112 RBI, third best among all big league players. He was third in home runs with 32 behind Munataka Murakami (35) and Kazuma Okamoto (33). He hit .263, playing all 162 games, 15th among rookies. He was 16th with a .330 on-base-percentage. He was seventh in slugging percentage with a .475 mark, contributing 25 doubles, also seventh among all rookies. Stewart stole 15 bases good for ninth among rookies.

He played 117 games at first base, 45 at third base, eight at second base. Stewart committed four errors in 939 chances. 

Stewart, a native of Miami, Florida will turn 23 on December 7, 2026. He was selected by the Reds out of Westminster Christian School in the first round of 2022, the 32nd overall choice. 

Kevin McGonigle was the Most Outstanding Rookie in the American League. He was the 37th pick in the 2023 draft out of Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He was 22 on August 18th, 2026.

The shortstop, third baseman, played in 156 games with a slash line was .278/.376/.430 with 28 doubles, five triples, 18 home runs and 72 RBI. McGonigle stole 12 bases.

The New York Yankees Cam Schlittler is the American League’s Most Outstanding Pitcher. Jacob Msiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers is the Most Outstanding National League Pitcher.

Other winners are Pete Crow-Armstrong was picked as Overall Player of the Year and Most Outstanding National League Players.

Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros was the Most Outstanding American League Player and Comeback Player of Year while Zach Wheeler won the National League Comeback Player of the Year.

David Cone was awarded the Curt Flood award for advancing players rights.

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Chris Bassitt won the Marvin Miller Award for the current player advancing players rights. 

Jake Burger of the Texas Rangers was name Philanthropist of the Year for creating opportunities for the children and their families of Downs Syndrome.

Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers, Mathew Boyd of the Chicago Cubs, Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rondon, and Hunter Greene of the Reds.

All of those players were awarded $10,000 for their charities. Burger's cause will get an additional $25,000 from the Players Associations Player's Trust.

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1990 Reds Champion Player Todd Benzinger Dies

              

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

On October 20, 1990, Todd Benzinger backed up and called for a pop fly off the bat of Carney Lansford as Randy Myers finished the Red's, 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics.

Benzinger was born in Dayton, Kentucky directly across the river from downtown Cincinnati on February 11, 1963. He graduated from New Richmond High School on the north bank of the river.

He passed away at the age of 63 this morning (102126).

The switch hitting firstbaseman/outfielder was drafted in the fourth round of the 1981 draft by the Boston Red Sox. He broke in with Boston in 1987. The Reds sent Nick Esasky and Rob Murphy to the Red Sox for Benzinger, Jeff Sellers and minor leaguer, Luis Vazquez in December 1988.

Benzinger played three seasons with the Reds from 1989-91 and was a key contributor during the 1990 wire-to-wire championship season.

He played in 1,230 games for the Reds, hitting .241 with 45 doubles, seven triples, 23 home runs and 133 RBI with the Reds.

The Reds traded Benzinger to the Kansas City Royals on July 11, 1991 for Carmello Martinez. He finished his career on May 14, 1995 at the age of 32.

Benzinger played in 924 games with a career .257 average with 135 doubles, 18 triples, 66 home runs and 376 RBI. 

Benzinger managed in the Reds' system at High A Dayton from in 2009 and 2010. He coached high school basketball in the Cincinnati area. He coached the girl's team at Loveland High School from 2006 through 2008.

He also particpated in football and basketball at New Richmond High School.

20 Game Winners 20 Game Losers

               

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

There hasn't been a pitcher to win 20 games in Major League Baseball since, 2023.

There are eight pitchers in 2026, who won 15 or more games.

Sonny Gray, a former Reds' hurler won 18 for the Boston Red Sox. Christopher Sanchez won 18 games for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Next on the list are 16 game winners, Eduardo Rodriguez of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers and Drew Rasmussen of the Tampa Bay Rays.

At 15 wins another former Reds pitcher, Nick Martinez won 15 for the Tampa Bay Rays, Foster Griffin of the Cleveland Guardians and Chase Burns of the Reds.

Of these eight pitchers only Burns and Rodriguez are not in the playoffs.

Since starting pitchers make fewer starts than players did in the not too distance past. They also are not pitching deep into games. 

Mackenzie Gore of the Washington Nationals made the most starts at 34. Next Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins, Tanner Bibee of the Guardians, Aaron Nola of the Phillies, Cam Schlitter of the New York Yankees and Sanchez of the Phillies made as many as 33 starts.

Of the 15-game or more game winners Gray at 18-5 and Burns at 15-3 made fewer than 30 starts with Burns earning the highest winning percentage at 833.

Only three pitchers pitched 200 or more innings, which used to get starters paid for taking mileage off the bullpens arms. Alcantara led with 214 innings. Sanchez pitched 207 and Michael Wacha of the Kansas City Royals logged 200 2/3 innings.

Since the use of pitchers changed so much the 15 win threshold is equivalent to the ancient 20 win standard for comparison.

If 15 wins are the equivalent to 20 wins, what about 15 losses.

Three pitchers did that.

Shane Baz of the Baltimore Orioles, Tanner Bibee of the Guardians and the Reds Brady Singer all lost 15 decisions. Singer and former Red Michael Lorenzen tied for the most runs allowed at 102. 

Singer made 31 starts and pitched 157 innings. He allowed 32 home runs, fifth in baseball. Singer walked 62 and hit 15 batters. His WHIP was 1.59.

Losses though are more subject to the team's offense. Singer had quality starts in 10 of his 31 but was just 3-2 with seven no decisions. In nine of his 16 losses the Reds scored two runs or fewer.

Burns was 2-3 when the Reds scored two runs or fewer. He was 13-0 when the Reds scored three runs or more.

Future Hall Of Fame Pitcher Ends Reds Season

              

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

It may have been three time Cy Young Award winner, Max Scherzer's last start in his career was a 5-1 win for the Toronto Blue Jays on the last day of the season.

Scherzer man handled the Reds for seven innings, allowing one run on six hits and one walk. He struck out seven.

He finished the season with a 4-9 record and a 5.74 ERA. For his 19 year career, he was 225-126 with a 3.29 ERA in 492 starts that included five shutouts. He pitched for seven teams and ended with 3,557 strikeouts if this is indeed his last start in a career his last strikeout victim was Juan Brito.

The Reds scored one run in the third inning on a double by Oswaldo Cabrera and a single by Carlos Jorge. 

The Blue Jays scored two in the second inning against Reds starter, Brandon Williamson, who finished the season after a two-year bout with injuries.

Davis Schneider walked and Brandon Valenzuela hit his ninth home run. They scored two more in the third.

George Springer doubled and Brett Bateman singled. Kazuma Okamoto walked to load the bases. Charles McAdoo hit a sacrifice fly and after a wild pitch, Schneider grounded out to score another run.

Williamson pitched three innings, allowing four runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out three.

Williamson finished the season with a 5-5 record and a 5.30 ERA in 12 appearances, nine starts.

Zach McCambley pitched two scoreless innings for the Reds. Luis Mey pitched a scoreless inning. Carson Spiers finished the season after coming back late from surgery. He allowed McAdoo's third home run to cap the scoring.

The Reds finished dead last in the National League Central Division with a 75-87 record after being 20-11 on April 30.

An eight game losing streak followed and the team never recovered.

There were positives.

Chase Burns was 15-3 on the season with a 2.86 ERA in 29 starts.

Elly De La Cruz set career highs with a slash line of .283/.365/.515 and an OPS of .880. He hits 30 home runs, stole 30 bases and drove in 79 runs. He missed 25 games with a strained quad.

Sal Stewart put together a fantastic rookie season. He finished with .263/.330/.457 and a .787 OPS. He hit 32 home runs and drove in 111 RBI the first Reds rookie to drive in over 100 runs since Jim Greengrass in 1953. He was third in all of baseball in RBI behind Alec Burleson's 116 and Pete Alonso's 113. He played all 162 games. 

Rhett Lowder Best Start Ends The Season Strong

             

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Rhett Lowder turned in his best performance of the season as the Reds defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-1

Lowder finished the season with a 28 appearances, 26 starts. He fashioned a seven and 12 record with his first win since August 28. His ERA ended at 5.74. He pitched a total of 133 1/3 inning, the most of any level. He pitched 120 innings at Wake Forest University in 2023. In pro baseball, the most he's pitched was 108 2/3 innings in 2024.

JJ Bleday opened the scoring with his 24th home run, leading off the second inning. The home run off Trey Yesavage extended Bleday's career-high to 24 home runs and he collected his 200th career RBI. He needs two RBI to match his career high of 60 set in 2024 as a member of the Athletics.

The Reds added to the lead against Spencer Miles.

Matt McLain walked. Carlos Jorge bunted for a base hit. Elly De La Cruz lined out to Ernie Clement at second base but Jorge was able to get back safely. McLain and Jorge pulled off a double steal. Sal Stewart hit a hard ground ball to shortstop, Andres Gimenez, who booted the ball. McLain scored but Stewart was denied an RBI. Eugenio Suarez doubled to plate Jorge.

Toronto's John Klein was the victim of an error by Sean Keys at first base.

Bleday walked with two outs on an unsuccessful umpire challenge of ball four by Kirk. Tyler Stephenson hit a slow ground ball to first base. Keys was in front of the bag but bobbled it. Stephenson stepped around him to reach on the error. Rodriguez tripled off the top of the left field wall to put the Reds up, 5-0. 

Lowder left after the sixth inning. He matched his best start of the season with six innings of shutout baseball on three hits. He walked the first two batters of the game but none after that. He struck out two. Lowder had a similar outing against the Texas Rangers on April 4.

Connor Phillips gave up a run in the seventh on a walk and a hit.

Graham Ashcraft pitched a scoreless eighth.

Tejay Antone pitched a scoreless ninth inning. After three "Tommy John" surgeries, Antone hasn't allowed a run over his last 13 appearances covering 11 1/3 innings. With one game left he has 58 appearances and 55 innings all far exceeding his career totals. He missed two complete seasons, 2022 and 2025.

Elly De La Cruz Joins Club Reds Lose In Foreign Trade

            

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Elly De La Cruz stole third base in a four-run rally that gave the Reds a three-run advantage that the Toronto Blue Jays eventually overcame to post a 6-5 win on Friday (092526).

De La Cruz is a member of the Reds 30-30 club a combination of speed and power with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. The other members in reverse order Brandon Phillips, Barry Larkin and Eric Davis.

The Reds fell behind with Nick Lodolo on the mound when the Blue Jays jumped out to a 2-0 lead with Alejandro Kirk and Kazuma Okamoto landing RBI doubles.

Lodolo settled in and shut down the Blue Jays after that.

It allowed the Reds to come back starting with Eugenio Suarez' 26th home run against Jose Soriano.

De La Cruz and company went to work in the third inning.

Newcomer, Oswaldo Cabrera singled to start the inning. Carlos Jorge bunted for a base hit. De La Cruz doubled them both home. He joined the club by stealing third base for his 30th stolen base of the season. Sal Stewart singled to drive in his 111th run of the season, third in MLB behind Alex Burleson's 115 and Pete Alonso's 113. Suarez singled to send Stewart to third. Hector Rodriguez hit into a force play that allowed Stewart to score.

Lodolo finished five innings but was relieved by Luis Mey after he hit Nathan Lukes with a pitch to start the sixth. Mey finished the scoreless innings to allow Lodolo to end his season on a high note.

Lodolo allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out three. For the season Lodolo fought off blisters to make 21 starts. He was 3-6 with a 4.97 ERA. He pitched 108 2/3 innings far behind the 156 2/3 innings from 2025.

Mey ran into trouble in the seventh.

He walked Andres Gimenez and Kirk to start the inning. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to score Gimenez. George Springer on an error by Cabrera at shortstop to load the bases with no outs.

Pierce Johnson replaced Mey.

Okamoto tied the game with a double. Lukes put the Blue Jays ahead with a single.

The Reds were shut out after the third inning to take the loss.

Elly De La Cruz Hits Milestone Home Run Carlos Jorge Drills First ML Homer Down Braves

            

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Carlos Jorge drilled his first big league homer against former Reds ace Tyler Mahle.  Elly De La Cruz hit his 30th of the season and Hector Rodriguez hit his sixth of the season to down the Atlanta Braves 7-6. 

The win over Atlanta gives the Los Angeles Dodgers a first round bye and the Brave must play either the Philadelphia Phillies or the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS.

Jorge opened the game with a home run like Juan Brito did on Wednesday (092326). Tracy Jones and Kal Daniels were the last two Reds to do that in back-to-back games in 1987.

The lead was obliterated in the bottom of the first against, Brady Singer, who closed a disappointing season. The Braves ambushed Singer for four runs in the bottom of the first. 

Drake Baldwin opened with a single. Ronald Acuna Jr. belted Singer's pitch high off the wall. Rodriguez played the rebound to hold Acuna to a single. Matt Olson's fly out tied the game but the Braves were just getting started. Michael Harris Jr. doubled to the gap to give the Braves the lead. Mauricio Dubon singled. Ozzie Albies singled for a third run. Mike Yastrzemski walked to to load the bases. Austin Riley hit another sacrifice fly.

Rodriguez doubled with two outs and Matt McLain scored him with a single.

De La Cruz made it a one-run game with his career-high 30th home run. He needs on stolen base in Toronto to join. Barry Larkin, Brandon Phillips, and Eric Davis aire the only Reds to accomplish this in a season.

The Reds took the lead against Mahle on a two-run single by Eugenio Suarez later in the inning. Sal Stewart singled and Tyler Stephenson walked. JJ Bleday's checked swing grounder to the mound worked like a sacrifice bunt that setup Suarez' single.

Austin Riley hit his 19th home run against Singer. It was his second home run in the last two games.

Zach McCambley replaced Singer in the fourth.

Singer finished his season with a three-inning, five-run, seven hits, two walks with one strikeout. On the season Singer finished with a 6-15 record and a 5.85 ERA. The 15 losses are tied with the Cleveland Guardians, Tanner Bibee and the Baltimore Orioles, Shane Baz for the most losses. He pitched 157 innings, the fewest since 2022 when he pitched 151 1/3 innings.

McCambley gave up a run in 1 2/3 innings on an RBI single by Yastrzemski. 

Connor Phillips entered the game with two outs and Yastrzemski on first. He walked Riley and number nine hitter, Sean Murphy. Baldwin lined out to Jorge in center.

AJ Smith-Shawver replaced Mahle. He hit Suarez with a pitch and Rodriguez drilled his home run 423 feet.

Brock Burke, extending his career-high 77th appearance. He gave up a double to Baldwin but retired Acuna and Olson to preserve the Reds' slim lead.

Emilio Pagan gave up a lead off single to Harris. Dubon bunted him to second. A wild pitch put the tying run on third base with one out. Pagan struck out Albies swinging and Yastrzemski flied out. It was Pagan's 25th save of the season. Since he returned from a hamstring injury on July 1, Pagan is 3-0 with 18 saves. He pitched 27 2/3 innings over 29 appearances with a 1.95 ERA. He walked just five batters in that span, while striking out 33.

Andrew Abbott Has Longest Outing But Reds Fall

             

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Dateline: Cincinnati  '

Andrew Abbott has not won a game since August 6, but he had the longest of his 32 starts against the Atlanta Braves. He had a pair of one-run leads but two pitches kept him off the winning ledger as the Atlanta Braves won in 10 innings, 3-2.

Juan Brito hit his third home run of the season leading off the game against Chris Sales.

Sales got stingy after that and struck out 10 batters, including Sal Stewart for his 200th of the season. It was the ninth season in which he struck out 200 or more batters. He was relieved after the strikeout in the sixth.

Matt Olson hit his 41st home run of the season to take Sale off the hook.

The Reds snatched the lead back against Robert Suarez. Matt McLain tripled to lead off the seventh and scored on Will Banfield's sacrifice fly.

Abbott gave the lead back in the seventh on Austin Riley's 18th home run to tie the game.

It was Abbott's last inning. 

It was the end of the 2025 All-Star's longest start in a disappointing season. He pitched seven innings and allowed just the two runs on six hits and one walk. Abbott struck out six. He will finish the season with a 6-11 record with a 4.61 ERA. He lost his last four decisions.

Graham Ashcraft and Pierce Johnson pitched scoreless innings for the Reds. 

Dylan Lee and former Red Raisel Iglesias pitched scoreless innings for the Braves to take the game into the 10th.

Last years bullpen participant Brent Suter, stranded the Reds ghost runner, McLain.

Luis Mey was assigned to extend the game another inning.

Pinch runner, DaShawn Keirsey Jr., started the 10th on second base. Ha-Seong Kim bunted Keirsey to third. Mey hit Drake Baldwin with a pitch. Mauricio Dubon topped a ball toward the mound. Mey couldn't field it cleanly and Keirsey scored the winning run.

Brandon Williamson White Washes Atlanta

           

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Brandon Williamson pitched six scoreless innings and was followed by three Reds' relievers in tossing a 4-0 shutout of the National League East champion Atlanta Braves.

Williamson had not pitched in 15 months when he was one of the best pitchers the Reds had in spring training.

The Reds decided to go with six starters, knowing they would have to navigate surgery with Hunter Greene and weaning Chase Burns through his first full major league season. Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Rhett Lowder and Brady Singer were the others. 

Williamson pitched six innings, allowing three hits, two of them infield hits. He didn't walk a batter and struck out two. The Reds turned in two double plays. He got seven of nine batters that put the ball in play for outs, on ground balls.

On Tuesday, Elly De La Cruz crushed his 29th home run and stole his 29th base. He added an RBI single. He is at a high point with a .288 batting average which is ranked 13th in Major League Baseball.

The Reds other two runs came off the bats of Dane Myers with his eighth home run in the sixth inning off Owen Murphy.  Eugenio Suarez belted his 25th home run which came against Murphy in the eighth inning.

Suarez now has 350 home runs for his career.

Brock Burke, Tejay Antone, who turned in his 11th straight scoreless outing, with a scoreless eighth. He had two hits and a walk with two outs, the second was an infield hit by Drake Baldwin. Antone got slugger Matt Olson out with a pop up foul to Ke'Bryan Hayes at third base. Emilio Pagan pitched the ninth in a non save situation.