Two years after high school home run derby, Sal Stewart is showcasing his power in Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH — Sal Stewart put up numbers he still can’t believe.
Two years ago Monday, he arrived at Coors Field in Colorado and flexed his muscles as a participant in the All-Star High School Home Run Derby. In the first two rounds, he smashed 26 bombs, including a 533-footer, to advance to the finals held two nights later during the Major League Baseball version.
“I don’t know if I had (500 feet) in me,” Stewart said last week before crediting the metal bats and mile-high air. “But they said it, so I’ll go with it.”
In the championship round, he crushed a ball so far it caromed off the scoreboard on one bounce. At least that’s what his parents told him. He didn’t watch it in flight, too worried about the next pitch.
He ended the finals with five dingers, tying now-LSU star Jared Jones for the crown.
“I can still be called the champion, I guess,” Stewart said with a laugh.
Now, as an infielder for the Daytona Tortugas, Stewart has been showcasing that same old power for the last six weeks. After hitting only one home run in April and May, he has clobbered seven since June 1.
The power has always been there. Stewart just needed to unlock it again.
CC Sabathia saved Sal Stewart's derby life
Stewart might have missed the high school derby if it weren’t for a former MLB Cy Young Award winner.
He was sent an email invitation to participate in the All-Star festivities, but it landed in his junk folder. He didn’t see it.
Luckily for Stewart, his friend, Carsten Sabathia, son of longtime professional pitcher CC Sabathia, brought up the invite because he also was named a high school All-Star. The Sabathias had noticed Stewart’s name on the list. So when he told the family he didn’t know anything about it, CC made a phone call.
Problem solved.
Stewart and his parents got the all-expenses-paid trip to Denver. He played in the All-Star Game with now-Tortugas teammate Cam Collier and was one of eight players selected for the home run derby.
“Right behind getting drafted, that was one of the best experiences,” said Stewart, an alum of Miami’s Westminster Christian School.
“That was the first time I’ve ever felt nervous in my life on a baseball field. Usually, I feel pretty free. I’m doing what I love. But those 50,000 fans — that was the first time I ever hopped onto a field and went, ‘This is pretty surreal’.”
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With the high school finals taking place between the first and second rounds of the MLB derby, Stewart got to watch several of the game’s superstars — Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and others — up close.
He was drafted into their league, 32nd overall by the Cincinnati Reds, one year later.
Sal Stewart skipped college to sign with Cincinnati after 2022 draft
Stewart committed to play baseball at Vanderbilt University but decided to skip college and sign with the Reds after the 2022 MLB Draft. The reasoning was simple.
“Man, I loved school,” Stewart said. “I did well in school. It wasn’t like it had anything to do with that. But passing up the first round, in my opinion, is something crazy to do. First round doesn’t come too often.”
Plus, he was ready. He felt prepared and then proved it in eight rookie-ball games last summer, hitting .292. He was assigned to Single-A Daytona to begin the 2023 season.
“He’s a professional in all senses of the word,” Tortugas manager Julio Morillo said. “I’m very happy to see that in a 19-year-old player, that he has that type of maturity.”
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All year long, Morillo has penciled Stewart’s name into the middle of the lineup. But Stewart started slowly in his first full professional campaign.
He hit .235 with one home run in April. In May, he followed with a .205 batting average and no long balls. Most of the balls he made contact with stayed on the ground.
In the first two months, Stewart produced a ground ball rate of 61%, which ranks about 20 points higher than the major-league average. So the Tortugas’ staff worked with him on some mechanical changes — his posture, hip movement and staying back on the ball — and encouraged him to lift the ball more.
“I feel like I was not taking my 'A' swing,” Stewart said. “I was kind of just trying to put balls in play instead of taking my good swing.”
Morillo said: “Ground balls, at this level and the next level, they’re going to be outs. (Hitting coach Jason Broussard) and us as a staff had a conversation with him about we want him to put the ball in the air more. Don’t sacrifice the ability to hit the ball. But understanding maybe trying to put the ball in the air on a line brings a little more swing-and-miss, but the reward is higher. I think he committed to that.”
It worked.
In June, Stewart dropped his ground ball rate to 46.5%. His power numbers and batting average rose dramatically.
From June 1 through Saturday, he hit .339 with 16 extra-base hits.
His season stat line now lists a .271 average and eight home runs. He leads the team with 46 RBIs and a .392 on-base percentage. MLB Pipeline slots him as the Reds' No. 8 prospect.
Those recent numbers? Yeah, those are numbers he can believe.
“I try to be a good hitter first,” Stewart said. “I try to be a complete hitter to all parts of the field. I know the home runs will come.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Tortugas’ Sal Stewart knows a thing or two about the home run derby
