Sal Stewart, Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns are the Reds' new next wave

The new next wave is here.

The 2023 Reds are remembered for their electric rookie class. The 2026 season could be a similar story.

Sal Stewart, Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns look like three of this team’s best players. As the Reds look to take the next step after sneaking into the playoffs last season, having these three young guys for full seasons looks like the biggest difference on this roster.

“I got to see that 2023 wave of Matt, Elly and all of those guys come up,” TJ Friedl said. “Now, it’s another wave three years later. If you turn that over every three years, it’s pretty phenomenal. It speaks volumes to our organization and what our expectations are from top-to-bottom.”

The Reds beat the Giants 8-3 on Wednesday, and Lowder and Stewart were the stars of the game. Lowder had the longest start of his career, allowing three runs in 6 ⅔ innings. Lowder has made four starts this year, and he has been very, very impressive in three of them.

Stewart hit two homers on Wednesday, continuing his three-week run as one of the most productive hitters in baseball. He ranks third in the league in OPS and is tied-for-second in homers.

“He’s a stud,” Matt McLain said. “He’s a great hitter. He’s a great teammate. He’s just mashing the ball. If you see the pitches he’s hitting, it’s really impressive. He works at it. He’s a great player, a great hitter and a great teammate.”

Burns — who technically isn’t a rookie but is viewed as one for all intents and purposes after entering this season with eight career big league starts — has one of the most talented young arms in the sport.

Supplementing this new young core are intriguing rookies like Rece Hinds and Connor Phillips, notable prospects in Triple-A like Héctor Rodríguez, Edwin Arroyo and Chase Petty and also Noelvi Marte, who’s back in Triple-A now after a bad start to the big league season but still has a high ceiling.

Just like Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Andrew Abbott and Spencer Steer did in 2023, Lowder, Stewart and Burns are finding their footing immediately as rookies and leading the Reds to wins.

“They’re all figuring it out and getting their feet wet and excelling at the big league level,” Abbott said. “Sitting here and watching it, they’re just having a fun time. It’s all you can really ask for.

Sal’s training, the work ethic, the effort level, the energy, how he is in the clubhouse, it shows. The same thing goes for Rhett and Chase. Those guys, they’ve earned it. Now, they’re taking advantage of it. It shows.”

The irony of this season so far for the Reds is that the most of the young veterans who are entering their prime — McLain, Steer, Abbott, Tyler Stephenson — aren’t producing yet. De La Cruz is an exception, and he looks great, but he also hasn’t reached his ceiling yet.

Meanwhile, Lowder, Stewart and Burns keep delivering games where they lead the Reds to wins. The Reds have an 11-7 record right now, and the key is the youngest guys.

“It’s incredible,” Friedl said. “They’re making an immediate impact and helping us get where we’re at. It’s a lot of good development. The communication from top-to-bottom has been really good in terms of what we expect when guys come up and what we’re looking for. The development all the way up has been incredible.”

The 2023 season and now the 2026 season are examples of how the Reds have gotten good at onboarding talented young players and putting them in positions to succeed. They’re not perfect, and the young veterans on this roster (including the 2023 class) have to continue developing and truly hit their ceilings for the Reds to take the next step and become a true NL contender.

But the hit rate for Reds’ rookies making good first impressive is relatively high. That’s a big deal for an organization that’s entire plan is drafting and developing.

“(The success) is because of the staff that we have here, the development we have in the Minor Leagues, the coaches that we have,” Stewart said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys. It’s not an accident. The way we draft as an organization. The people that we get. We get a lot of hard workers. Kudos to the organization. Sometimes, the organization doesn’t get as much credit as they deserve.”

The Reds have had a good number of talented rookies in big roles over the last few years. None has looked as polished, well-prepared and advanced as Stewart has been from the jump, dating back to his debut last September.

After the game on Wednesday, Francona highlighted one moment before Stewart’s first homer of the game. In a 2-1 count, Stewart got fooled by a splitter and whiffed badly.

“He’ll take maybe a bad swing, but he regroups,” Francona said. “He doesn’t just give an at-bat away.”

In that moment, Stewart took a timeout, stepped out of the box, nodded his head and locked in. Then, he homered.

“His maturity pitch-to-pitch is the most incredible part,” Friedl said. “Being able to work an at-bat and know where he’s being pitched and where each pitch needs to go, it’s insane. He just grinds out good at-bats. He’s just a really mature hitter.”

Stewart, Lowder and Burns are all benefiting a lot from the veterans around them.

Stewart works out at first base daily with Nathaniel Lowe. Eugenio Suárez has stepped in as a vocal veteran leader. Brady Singer is known for his preparation and his routine, which the younger pitchers pay attention to. Jose Trevino is regarded as a future manager. Emilio Pagán and Pierce Johnson are walking examples of how relievers should go about their job.

In the clubhouse and during batting practice and bullpen sessions, it seems like a young guy is always talking with a veteran.

“It feels like our front office is targeting a certain type of veteran guy,” Pagán said. “We’ve all been good players, but we’ve never been standout superstars. We’ve been complementary pieces on other teams.”

(Suárez is an exception as a two-time All-Star).

“Being in that role,” Pagán said, “You know what makes you feel like you can be the most successful version of yourself. You try to pour that into younger guys.”

The 2026 Reds still need Friedl, McLain, Steer, Stephenson, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Abbott and Singer to produce a lot more than they have through 18 games this season. But in the meantime, with the veterans playing worse than what the backs of their baseball cards say they will, the young guys have more than picked up the slack. They’re the ones who have the Reds playing well through three weeks. They’re the ones who have the Reds four games over .500.

And the Reds aren’t expecting Stewart, Lowder or Burns to slow down.

“They’re all studs,” McLain said. “They’ve earned it. They’re great players, and they work really hard.”