Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell says it can be easier getting two catchers consistent playing time than any other position.
This season, he can choose daily between Tucker Barnhart, the reigning Gold Glove winner who’s having one of the best offensive stretches of his career, and Tyler Stephenson, the franchise’s 2015 first-round pick who has made a leap forward in his second Major League season.
“(Barnhart) is getting two out of three (starts) right now,” Bell said. “But there will be other times of the year where, depending on a certain situation, maybe that would be reversed.”
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Over the last 10 seasons, the Reds have only had two above-average hitting seasons from their catchers. Curt Casali and Devin Mesoraco have been the lone Reds catchers with more than 50 plate appearances to post an OPS+ above 100 in a season.
So far, Barnhart and Stephenson have both hit significantly above average.
Following the Reds’ seventh game of the season, Barnhart has made five starts and is ranked third among catchers in batting average (.444) and OPS (1.251). Stephenson has started the other two games, and he ranks fifth in batting average and seventh in OPS among catchers with more than 10 at-bats.
A few changes to Barnhart’s swing have led to a better stretch at the start of the season than he had at any point in 2020.
Barnhart’s progression started last season when he had a .241 average against right-handed pitchers and a .318 on-base percentage. In 2021, Barnhart said his plan is “proper thinking” and hitting line drives opposite field.
“I didn’t expect maybe this, but I expected something similar,” Barnhart said. “I worked tirelessly this offseason just trying to put myself in the best position with every swing I took to get my best swing off and it’s working. I just have to keep getting good pitches.”
The reigning Gold Glove Award winner has made a significant impact defensively as he has throughout his career. Against the St. Louis Cardinals, Barnhart made a highlight juggling catch to save a strikeout.
He also has a deep understanding of the Reds pitching staff, which Barnhart used to get the Reds out of a few jams in Friday night’s 6-5 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
With relief pitcher Sean Doolittle, Barnhart called a fastball-oriented game plan to secure a scoreless inning. After relief pitcher Lucas Sims allowed a home run in the eighth inning, Barnhart went to the mound, told Sims the three biggest outs of the game were ahead of them and helped Sims get the Reds to extra innings.
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After Amir Garrett got the save in the 10th inning, he credited Barnhart.
“We called so many sliders, but him knowing that’s my best pitch and that’s what we’re going to stick to, we’re going to live and die by it,” Garrett said. “It’s a sense of relief because he knows me like the back of his hand.”
When Stephenson has been in the starting lineup, he has looked the part of a top-100 prospect.
In addition to what Stephenson brings as a power hitter, he was behind the plate for Jeff Hoffman’s Reds debut. Hoffman allowed just one run in five innings.
Stephenson also caught one of the most efficient starts of Luis Castillo’s career. Castillo threw seven scoreless innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“Whenever I was thinking of one pitch, I asked for it,” Castillo said through team interpreter Jorge Merlos. “It was a good mix of pitches that we were thinking of at the same time. Whenever he asked me for something, I agreed with him. It was a really good combo that we had with Tyler Stephenson today.”
A platoon between the left-handed Barnhart and the right-handed Stephenson would be a way to divide playing time, but the Reds will face right-handed starters considerably more than left-handed starters.
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The Reds haven’t faced a left-handed starter yet this season. In 2020, Cincinnati faced 47 right-handed starting pitchers and just 13 left-handed starting pitchers.
While the catching rotation is more complicated than the opposing starting pitcher, Bell said he’s confident Stephenson will have opportunities.
“We need both of these guys, it’s going to work out,” Bell said. “The advantage is they’re both playing well, one of them hits left-handed and one of them hits right-handed, (Barnhart) is doing a great job against left-handed pitching now too. They both understand the situation, and we’ll be able to keep them both sharp.”
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