GOODYEAR, ARIZ. — In Game 1 of the playoffs last year, as the Cincinnati Reds faced the Los Angeles Dodgers, Rhett Lowder was watching on TV at home. Chase Burns was in the bullpen, ready for his shot. Sal Stewart was used as a pinch-hitter.
If the Reds make it back to the postseason in 2026, however, those three players will be key names on the roster. Slugger Eugenio Suárez was the Reds’ biggest addition during the offseason, but Lowder, Burns, and Stewart represent a huge part of the core that the Reds are building around. They’re three of the most talented players on the team, and they have the makeup to meet the moment in a clutch situation.
The 24-year-old Lowder now steps into a bigger role as the favorite to be the Reds’ No. 5 starter with Hunter Greene opening the season on the injured list. Lowder posted a 1.17 ERA in six starts in 2024 before injuries wiped out his 2025 season. The former first-round pick impresses his teammates with his old-school approach, and he’s been the talk of camp so far.
Burns, 23, will need to be a frontline-caliber starting pitcher this season. His upside is as high as Greene’s, and there were flashes in 2025 where Burns looked extremely close to making a huge leap. Andrew Abbott said about Burns, “Chase has the stuff to not be a dark horse candidate but to be an out-front Cy Young candidate.”
Burns was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. He was so dominant in the Minor Leagues last season that the Reds were able to rush him to Cincinnati. But they also had to manage his innings in his first professional season, so he had to move to the bullpen during the summer.
This year will be Burns’ chance to show what he can really do. The underlying metrics show that he has some of the best stuff in the game and can be a strikeout machine. Expectations for Burns are high in 2026. Abbott says, “He has the stuff to be an ace. He has the stuff to be a No. 1 no matter what team he’s on in the league. He has a great head on him. He’s a great teammate and friend off the field. He’s always there for you.”
Burns didn’t show the “real him” in 2025, when he was a rookie trying to fit in. His teammates are looking forward to seeing more of that energy on the mound this season, and it’s easy to envision Burns leading the Reds to a huge win and pounding his chest on the mound at some point this year.
“I play this game with a lot of passion,” Burns says. “It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get here. A lot of answered prayers that went my way. I love this game. I wouldn’t want to do anything else. I know a lot of people who’d love to play this game. Why not go out there at 110 percent? God has given me a gift to play this game. I’m going to do that.”
The Reds expect to receive a similar level of energy and a similar type of spark from Stewart, who made his MLB debut in September and was a role player down the stretch. Matt McLain says, “We all know that by now. He likes that (stage). He’s a competitor. He likes to win. He plays with that fire. That’s really fun to be on the field with.”
In the offseason, Stewart lost more than 20 pounds to help him improve his defense, and his jaw dropping homers in Spring Training show that he hasn’t lost any power. Stewart, 22, entered camp having to compete for the starting first base job, but he’s a pretty safe bet now to be an everyday player at that position in 2026.
The combination of his natural ability to hit and his power provides a presence in the middle-third of the lineup that the Reds didn’t have last year. His teammates call him “Salbert,” a nod to future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, because of how much confidence they have in Stewart’s bat.
Stewart is open about the fact that a goal for him this season is winning NL Rookie of the Year. “I’m just confident in who I am,” he says. “There will be ups and downs. Knowing who I am and leaning on the people around me, I’m confident that I’ll be in a good spot.”
The Reds know what they can expect this year out of their core of “young veterans,” which includes Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Spencer Steer, TJ Friedl, Tyler Stephenson, and Ke’Bryan Hayes. Elly De La Cruz and McLain will need to perform at an All-Star level, and there’s pressure on each of them to have a big season.
Lowder, Burns, and Stewart represent the team’s X-factors. They each have the ability to become the very best player on the Reds in 2026. It’s also possible that they each suffer from the sophomore slump that you see around baseball.
There’s a lot of responsibility this year on the plates of these young guys who have had to earn their jobs on the Opening Day roster, and how they manage that could be the difference between the Reds making or missing the playoffs.
Charlie Goldsmith has covered the Reds and Bengals since 2020, and his newsletter on the teams can be found at charlieschalkboard.substack.com.
Facebook Comments