{"id":52017,"date":"2026-07-27T10:42:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=52017"},"modified":"2026-07-27T10:42:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:42:46","slug":"jesus-is-the-greatest-cincinnati-reds-breakout-star-sal-stewart-puts-faith-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/07\/jesus-is-the-greatest-cincinnati-reds-breakout-star-sal-stewart-puts-faith-first.html","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Jesus is the Greatest&#8217;: Cincinnati Reds Breakout Star Sal Stewart Puts Faith First"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_52019\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52019\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/07\/Sal-Stewart_credit-WDTN-X.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-52019\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/07\/Sal-Stewart_credit-WDTN-X.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-52019\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">@WDTN \/ X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart is having a breakout season, but as his profile continues to rise across Major League Baseball, the 22-year-old says his greatest priority has nothing to do with statistics or awards.<\/p>\n<p>For Stewart, it&#8217;s about glorifying Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Jesus blessed me. I&#8217;m 22, playing at Yankee Stadium. My family is in the stands. I mean, Jesus is the greatest,&#8221; Stewart said while reflecting on the opportunity to play on one of baseball&#8217;s biggest stages.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Nothing but humility from Sal Stewart after collecting 6 RBI at Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;How grateful am I? Jesus blessed me, I&#8217;m 22, man, playing at Yankee Stadium. My family is in the stands, man, Jesus is the greatest.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>? Reds TV <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/WDTN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WDTN<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pF1IyhUoDk\">pic.twitter.com\/pF1IyhUoDk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kayler Smith &#8211; WDTN (@KaylerSmithTV) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KaylerSmithTV\/status\/2068445798698729780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 20, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Stewart&#8217;s performance has given him plenty to celebrate. He ranks fourth in MLB with 70 RBIs and was one of four rookies invited to the MLB All-Star Game. Yet throughout his rapid rise, Stewart has repeatedly redirected attention toward his Christian faith.<\/p>\n<p>After a multi-home run performance earlier this season, Stewart told MLB Network that his goals have changed since he was a young baseball player dreaming about reaching the majors.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Jesus Christ, He&#8217;s my Lord and Savior,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/reds\/video\/sal-stewart-on-first-career-multi-homer-game\">Stewart said<\/a> in April. &#8220;He&#8217;s changed my life so much.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When I was younger, I always said [that] trying to get to the big leagues was always my dream,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;But my dream now is just to glorify His name. Without Him, I&#8217;m nothing, and I can&#8217;t do this. He gives me all the strength to do this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Stewart has been open about his faith since before reaching the majors. After the Reds selected him in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft, he shared a video of the emotional moment on Instagram and began his message by thanking God.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have to start off by thanking my lord and savior, Jesus Christ; without Him, nothing is possible in my life!&#8221; Stewart <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CgKrVl0Pfn1\/\">wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He went on to thank the coaches, teammates, friends and extended family who supported his baseball journey before offering a special message to his immediate family for the sacrifices they made along the way.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To the Reds community, you are getting my all,&#8221; Stewart added. &#8220;I promise to give everything I have and push to help my team win in any way I can!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Three years later, Stewart is delivering on that promise while emerging as one of baseball&#8217;s brightest young players. And whether he&#8217;s celebrating a home run, playing at Yankee Stadium or reaching another career milestone, Stewart continues to make one thing clear: his success on the field comes second to his desire to glorify Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart is having a breakout season, but as his profile continues to rise across Major League Baseball, the 22-year-old says his greatest priority has nothing to do with statistics or awards. For Stewart, it&#8217;s about glorifying Jesus Christ. &#8220;Jesus blessed me. I&#8217;m 22, playing at Yankee Stadium. My family is&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":52019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Jesus is the Greatest&#039;: Cincinnati Reds Breakout Star Sal Stewart Puts Faith First<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Reds breakout star Sal Stewart credits Jesus for his success, saying his biggest dream is no longer MLB fame but glorifying Christ.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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