CINCINNATI – A very strong Opening Day from rookie Reds first baseman Sal Stewart was almost cut short in a quite painful way on Thursday.
In the fifth inning with one out and a runner on first base with Andrew Abbott pitching, Roman Anthony pulled a scorching low line drive toward Stewart. Just when it looked like he had a catch and possibly a double play, the ball made a direct hit on his left wrist. Immediately, Stewart went down as his glove came off.
“I was just guarding the runner and then Roman smoked that ball. As soon as he hit it, my arm just went numb and dangled," Stewart said.
As Anthony reached safely, Stewart was unable to make any play while in obvious pain walking around.
"I thought I lost Sal for a minute. It was hit a hundred-million miles an hour at him," Abbott said.
Actually, it was 110.2 mph off the bat, according to Statcast. But after getting looked over by head trainer Sean McQueeney and manager Terry Francona, Stewart was able to continue.
"Sean came over. I asked him, ‘Is it broken?’ He’s like, ‘It doesn’t feel like it.’ So was like, ‘All right, I’m not going anywhere.’ Just kept on playing," Stewart said.
“I think at first he thought it was broken. You could tell by the way he acted," Francona said. "I think once kind of the shock wore off … he’s going to be sore. That was a bullet. I think we dodged a big bullet."
Although offense was hard to come by for the Reds in a 3-0 loss to the Red Sox, Stewart had three of his team's four hits in the game – including doubles in the second and eighth innings.
Remarkably on the very first pitch he saw after his near exit, Stewart hit an opposite-field single to continue a one-out rally against Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet.
Since the rules for rookie stats started counting in 1958, Stewart is the first Reds rookie to get three hits on Opening Day. He was also the first to bat cleanup.
Other notes and observations from Opening Day
No worries about Abbott
The Reds weren't too concerned that Abbott got roughed up throughout Spring Training with an 11.25 ERA. The lefty turned it on when it counted, Day 1 of the regular season. He threw six scoreless innings with seven hits, one walk and four strikeouts while using 83 pitches.
After he gave up eight runs in a spring game March 16, Abbott was frustrated. A conversation with Francona and pitching coach Derek Johnson helped get his mind right.
“I think based off that conversation, it kind of revitalized," Abbott said. "You felt down, you’re dwelling, you’re frustrated, but I was able to move forward, forget about that stuff and focus on the next pitch, the next at-bat, the next game. I did a good job today of doing that.”
After Anthony's liner off Stewart, Abbott was able to escape with back-to-back strikeouts. He got Trevor Story looking at a 93 mph fastball, then Jarren Duran whiffing on a curveball.
“I knew I had big pitches I had to execute," Abbott said.
Defense steps up
The Reds have stressed improved defense since the offseason, and it showed up a few times Thursday. In the first two innings, Abbott picked up two double plays. After Anthony led off the game with a single, Story grounded to the left of third base. Ke'Bryan Hayes looked super smooth starting a 5-4-3 double play. In the second inning with two on and one out, Ceddanne Rafaela grounded to Elly De La Cruz, who turned the rally-killing 6-4-3 DP.
Accustomed to overreaction
Francona acknowledged sleeping wasn't easy Wednesday night. He knew the game was going to draw shoot-from-the-hip conclusions from some fans.
“Today or tomorrow will be the biggest overreaction day of the year," he said. "If we win, we’re going to the World Series, and if we lose, we’re going to stink. And you’ve got to sit through that the whole day [Friday.]"
Great atmosphere
As it usually does, Cincinnati turned Opening Day into a holiday-like atmosphere throughout the city and inside Great American Ball Park, and the sold-out crowd of 43,897 fans were rocking the place.
“Fantastic. I was kind of focused. I didn’t really get to enjoy it a lot. But you heard the crowd," Abbott said. "They were energized the whole time. We ask nothing more than that. We love the support we get from every single fan here. I know we didn’t get a win but keep coming back. It’s Game 1 out of 162.”