PITTSBURGH –– When Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson was 14, the head coach of his high school baseball team asked him to start calling games behind the plate for the pitchers at Kennesaw Mountain High School.
Most catchers don’t start calling games until they become a professional. But as a freshman in high school, Stephenson showed the baseball IQ and the motivation to handle all of the responsibilities that come with catching.
Throughout his professional career, Stephenson has been motivated to stay at catcher. He has exceeded the expectations of the coaching staff with how much he improved defensively, and Stephenson has played at an All-Star level in 2022.
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Reds manager David Bell and Stephenson said there’s no consideration about moving Stephenson away from the catcher position, even though Stephenson has had three concussions during his career.
“I don’t think it’s going to impact anything,” Stephenson said. “It’s part of it. I’m not worried about it.”
In April, following a collision at the plate with San Diego Padres first baseman Luke Voit, Stephenson got a concussion and missed two weeks. During the comeback process, he dealt with some dizziness and nausea as he ramped up baseball activities in anticipation of his return.
During the process, Stephenson’s drive to keep catching didn't change.
Then in Saturday night’s loss against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Stephenson took a foul ball off of his face mask, left the game and entered concussion protocol. After the foul ball hit his mask, Stephenson sat on the ground, winced and took a few deep breaths.
He left the game in a scary moment for the Reds, but on Sunday, Stephenson was fully cleared.
“That (was) the first test, obviously, since I came back (from the concussion against the Padres),” Stephenson said. “It was a good one, to say the least. It was positive, once I got into the clubhouse to kind of wind it down, especially with how I feel this morning. All positive news and stuff, we’re good.”
After the foul tip on Saturday, Stephenson had a conversation with Reds assistant athletic trainer Tomás Vera. He told Stephenson that the rest of the season will be really important because after you’ve had a concussion, the following six months are a time when you have to be "careful."
As a result, the Reds are looking into different types of padding they can add to Stephenson’s helmet. Stephenson said he has some new styles of masks coming from Evoshield that he can try, and he plans to visit Evoshield’s headquarters when the Reds play in Chicago.
“They’re open to communication and conversations because obviously health is of the No. 1 importance,” Stephenson said. “We’re having the conversations. We’ll come together and figure out something.”
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Stephenson has a .324 batting average in 2022, and Bell has been keeping him in the lineup as often as possible because of how well he was hitting. Bell said the Reds will continue to use him at designated hitter on his off days because Stephenson is one of the best bats in the Reds’ lineup. But Bell stressed that he isn't considering moving Stephenson to first base.
Stephenson’s defense behind the plate is arguably just as valuable as his ability as a hitter. While Stephenson has the potential to become one of the best hitting catchers in MLB, he’d be closer to the middle of the pack at first base or as a designated hitter.
During the offseason, Stephenson had a private catching coach move to Columbia, South Carolina, to work with him during the lockout. Stephenson changed his catching stance that he uses with runners on base because he struggled throwing out baserunners last season.
This year, Stephenson has already thrown out sixth runners attempting to steal a base, which is just two fewer than he had across the entire 2021 season. Stephenson is also developing a new strategy to move his mitt and frame pitches for strikes, and has grown just as much in that area.
After all of the progress he has made, Stephenson isn't changing positions.
“We’ll try everything we can to prevent something from happening later on, especially a foul tip or whatever it is,” Stephenson said.
FARMER OUT: Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer didn’t start on Saturday or Sunday due to “general soreness.” Matt Reynolds started both games at shortstop in his place.
Farmer had one day off all season before this stretch, which was the fewest on the team.
“It works out because we have the off day (Monday),” Bell said. “Get him three days to get treatment, get taken care of.”
REHAB UPDATES: Bell said center fielder Nick Senzel is targeting starting his rehab assignment on Wednesday. Joey Votto played in his first rehab game on Saturday night, and he was 1-for-1 with two walks, and Votto was back in the Bats lineup on Sunday.
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