Tyler Stephenson

Tyler Robert Stephenson

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 210 lb.
• High School Kennesaw Mountain High School
• Debut July 27, 2020

• Born August 16, 1996 in Atlanta, GA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Catcher Tyler Stephenson was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the first round of the 2015 amateur draft with the 11th overall pick. He soon signed and made his pro debut with the Billings Mustangs on June 18th, going 2-for-3 against the Great Falls Voyagers.

He made the Reds' roster out of "summer training" in 2020 and appeared in his first game on July 27th, when he replaced Curt Casali behind the plate in the 8th inning of a game against the Chicago Cubs. The Reds were trailing 8-1 at that point, but Tyler homered to deep center field in his first major league plate appearance against Duane Underwood. He then singled as the Reds batted around that inning, and in the 9th, he drew a bases loaded walk against closer Craig Kimbrel to pull his team to within one run of the Cubs, 8-7, although the comeback ended there and Cincinnati lost the game. He was just the third player in Reds history to homer in his first at-bat, following Clyde Vollmer in 1942 and Ted Tappe in 1950. He played 8 games that first season, batting .294 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs. In 2021, he became the Reds' starting catcher, playing 132 games and batting .286 with 10 homers and 45 RBIs. He finished 6th in the voting for the Rookie of the Year and was named the catcher on the 2021 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. His performance was strong enough for the Reds to decided to trade the former starter (and a former Gold Glove winner to boot), Tucker Barnhart, to the Detroit Tigers after the season.

In only his 11th game of the 2022 season, he suffered a concussion when he was levelled by Luke Voit of the San Diego Padres in a collision at home plate in the 1st inning on April 19th. He still managed to tag Voit and hold on to the ball, but had to leave the game and was placed on the concussion list. Teammate Tommy Pham for one, was not impressed with Voit's actions: "The way his hands hit him, it was dirty as (expletive). I don't like it at all. The way his hands hit him in the face, it was dirty." Stephenson was off to a good start, hitting .267 with a pair of homers and 6 RBIs. He was out until early May and ended up playing just 50 games that season as he broke his right thumb in early June, returned a month later and saw his season end after suffering a broken clavicle on July 22nd on a foul tip in the 1st inning of the Reds' first game after the All-Star break. In between all the injuries, he managed to hit .319 with 6 homers and 35 RBIs, for an OPS+ of 133.

He was fully healthy in 2023, but did not hit nearly as well as the year before as he finished at .243 in 142 games, with 13 homers and 56 RBIs, his OPS+ falling to 86. He was back as the regular catcher for the Reds in 2024, but just before the start of a game on June 27th, he received a call on the bullpen phone telling him to leave immediately as his wife Carlyn was going into labor at their home in South Carolina (the couple were expecting to have labor induced a few days later and he had made preparations to join her for that). The couple's first daughter, Savannah, was born the next day as he went on paternity leave until July 2nd.

Notable Achievements

• 2021 Topps All-Star Rookie Team

Further Reading

• Charlie Goldsmith (Cincinnati Enquirer): "The wild story of how Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson almost missed his major-league return", USA Today, July 10, 2022. [1]
• Mark Sheldon: "1 at-bat, 1 HR: Reds prospect off to fast start", mlb.com, July 28, 2020. [2]
• Mark Sheldon: "'Dirty': Collision, catcher's concussion have teammates seeing red", mlb.com, April 20, 2022. [3]
• Mark Sheldon: "Stephenson gets life-changing bullpen call", mlb.com, July 3, 2024. [4]

Related Sites

• Tyler Stephenson on mlb.com
• BR Minors page