The Cincinnati Reds made some roster moves today before they begin a 3-game, do-or-die series with the New York Mets. Catcher Tyler Stephenson has been activated from the injured list. He will be taking the place of Will Banfield on the 28-man roster as Cincinnati optioned him back to Triple-A. Right-handed pitcher Joe La Sorsa, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Louisville.
Tyler Stephenson returns to Cincinnati tonight. The catcher last played on August 15th against the Brewers before it was discovered he had a fractured left thumb. He would miss three weeks before joining Louisville on a rehab assignment on Wednesday. He would play in two games for the Bats. In Wednesday’s game he caught seven innings and went 1-3 with a 428-foot home run in his first at-bat. Last night he went 1-2 and was hit in the ribs by a cutter in his final at-bat while serving as the team’s designated hitter.
Will Banfield, who was called up to replace Stephenson when he went down with injury, is heading back to the minor leagues. During his time with the Reds he only started two games. He came off of the bench in five other games. At the plate he managed to pick up his first big league hit, hitting a single against the St. Louis Cardinals on August 29th at Great American Ball Park. That would be his lone hit in 10 plate appearances where he didn’t walk and struck out six times.
With Joe La Sorsa’s outright, he will have the choice to accept his assignment to Triple-A Louisville or to become a free agent. His decision here has not yet been made public. Given the time of the year and the fact that he just cleared waivers, it may make more sense to just accept the outright and continue getting paid for the next few weeks versus risking no one signing you until the offseason.
At 29, time is running out on Stephenson. He needs to hit like Ty Cobb for the rest of the season. I’m guessing he’s closing in on a nontender or a trade. Trevino will likely be #1 going into spring training, depending on what the Reds do in the offseason.
I’ve seen multiple people bring up the idea of non-tendering Stephenson after this year and I am begging those of you with that idea to take a good look around Major League Baseball and Triple-A and see just how terrible the catching situation is. I mean for crying out loud the Reds just had Will Banfield up here. Take a gander at how terrible he’s been in Triple-A. That’s the type of guy you might wind up with as your backup next year, not your 3rd or 5th option.
it’s interesting to take a look at who will be the free-agent catchers available in the offseason… After we realize the big and minor leagues have a sad situation regarding to catchers…Would they earn good money deals?
Totally agree Doug. Put Tyler up for trade or something stupid like non tender him and teams will be falling all over each other to get him. Most of the people were screaming Trevino and Wynn’s and they both regressed to what the back of their baseball cards. Some nitwit even tried to say well Trevino has a better record than Tyler. But you can keep on screaming at these people because most of them don’t read any comments. They have their stupid agendas and will stick to them.
Thank you Doug. There just aren’t that many catchers out there that even hit at league average these days. Stephenson is an easy choice to tender, even with playing below expectations.
I disagree
I think they tender him and go with 2 full time catchers – which is a necessity in 2025. It buys them another year.
They have only $20 mil committed to greene trevino and Hayes
My view is they are willing to go with Trevino as the more “full-time” catcher in 2026 and won’t want to pay TS the arbitration influenced salary for 2026, which is likely more than what they will be paying Trevino.
That said, they may tender TS and then trade him ahead of the arbitration process if he wants more than they want to pay for a second catcher. Also, don’t look past that the Reds will be looking for a competent #3 to have on ice at AAA and will have money tied up in a Wynns’ type deal for that guy.
Stephenson should make more, he’s hands down better. The better move would be to extend him past his arbitration years to bridge to Duno’s arrival.
We know Trevino is under team control for 2026 through 2028 (last year on team only option) at just a $5.67m AAV. If the Reds buy out the 2028 option ($1m), the AAV for 2026-27 is actually higher than the AAV for the full 3-year contract because of the size of the buyout.
This would not seem to bode well for Stephenson’s future with the Reds, given the offense they appear to have coming at multiple other spots.
Time is not running out. Plenty of catchers 32 and up. Performance is the key characteristic, not age.
There is no way on earth that the Reds, or any other team, would nontender Tyler Stephenson. He is a solid starting catcher for the Reds, and I would venture that if healthy, he would start for half the teams in MLB. He would certainly be good enough to backup the better catchers in the league.
Also, there is zero chance that Jose Trevino is the #1 catcher next season over a healthy Tyler Stephenson. Trevino is a solid backup catcher, but if he is your starter in 2026, you likely have the worst starting catcher in MLB.
The only way Stephenson is not on the Reds next year is if they trade him. Considering the sad state of MLB catching, he would bring a nice return. But if we hope to contend in 2026, we don’t trade Stephenson unless we’re getting back someone even better.
The Reds are committed to paying Trevino $5.5m in both 2026 and 2027. They have a club (only) option on him for 2028 at $6.5m ($1m buyout). That’s not backup catcher money in a Reds budget.
I do agree they are likely to tender Stephenson, but then also likely to dump the salary if he won’t sign ahead of arbitration for what the club wants to pay.
Why? Check out RedsGettingBetter comment below which details Stephenson’s current 2025 offensive numbers :
https://www.redlegnation.com/2025/09/05/tyler-stephenson-activated-cincinnati-reds-option-will-banfield-to-triple-a-joe-la-sorsa/#comment-1098793
I agree that Trevino is being paid a nice salary. It’s pretty high for a backup, but not outlandish.
And I’m aware of Stephenson’s offensive numbers. They’re not great, yet still better than several other starting catchers in MLB. And they’re decisively better numbers than Trevino.
I disagree that the Reds would ever just release Stephenson. A guy like him carries good value on the trade market, and they would be foolish to let him go for nothing.
If Cincy intends on contending in 2026, then they keep Stephenson as the starter and Trevino as the backup. The catcher position is set for next year.
If they trade Stephenson and go into the season as Trevino as the starter, that’s a clear sign that they don’t intend on winning. Trevino is NOT a legit #1 catcher.
If by some chance the Reds decide that Stephenson is not their #1 guy for next year, they would have to be idiots to just nontender a guy who is a legit MLB starter.
At the very least, they would trade him in order to improve the team elsewhere. Tyler Stephenson would have good value on the trade market.
Unfortunately there are not better options than Stephenson. An argument can be made that Trevino is a lot like Espinal in that if he plays sporadically he’s a better hitter but can’t hit well playing every day. He’s hitting .184/.219/.214 in the last 30 games. It’s amazing that we’re talking this way about Stephenson considering not too long ago he was considered a player to sign long term and build your team around.
Tyler Stephenson is hitting .226 average with an 705 OPS with a 35% K-rate meaning a nice upgrade over Banfield from an offense standpoint. That gives you an idea how bad Banfield is when goes to the batters box…
Stephenson’s SO% before this year was 23.4%. This year it surged to 34.4%.
That is a major concern. I suppose it can be at least partially attributed to his injury issues, but it is a glaring red flag. He will certainly be back next season, and a free agent after 2026.
Duno’s likely ETA is 2028. Maybe 2027 late.
My guess is the Reds are OK with Trevino as the primary catcher in 2026 if it comes to that, but would like to see him as backup (or traded) for 2027. As for the $1m buyout against Trevino’s club option for 2028, the team would probably hope to be in a position to do the buyout.
I think they tender Stephenson, but it’s no better than 50/50 that he is with the Reds next year.
I would be shocked if anybody on the Reds is OK with Trevino as the primary catcher in 2026. He is simply not good enough for that.
If Trevino is the starter, it better be because the Reds went into a full rebuild and are not trying to contend. And nobody wants to see that.
Docmike> We obviously disagree. Both guys are flawed, i.e. far from great catchers. I simply do not see the added value in Stephenson that makes him worth more as a catcher.
What I like about Trevino is his hands. They are sure and quick. He makes plays because of this, both behind the plate and coming out to catch popups, field and throw.
For me, a big knock on Stephenson is that he has caught as many as 100 games in a season only once, in 2024. His average number of appearances as catcher from 2022-present is 79.3 games.
He will probably finish with 65 or fewer catching appearances in 2025 since he is at 53 coming into tonight (Friday, Sept 5) in a season when he also has only 19 noncatching appearances.
Even in a sharing situation, a guy needs at least 100-120 catching appearances, IMO, to be a true #1 and be paid like one due to the importance of the position.
@Jim
No one catches 120 games or even 100 anymore
Catching in 2025-26 requires a 2 person committee over 162 games . The avg salary in mlb is approaching $6 million. Stephenson and Trevino are a solid combo at ~ $10-11 million combined in 2026 and give depth
Its a no brainer on a 1 year deal
Not sure if it’s true or how much but I’ve heard that he’s (Stephenson) been working on getting more lift on his batted balls. That’s a big time mistake in my view in a lot of cases and very well could be contributing to his higher K rate. He WAS a good top of the order type hitter. Going back to “what got him here” could be very wise.
So, looks like Stewart is on the bench again tonight
That’s really strange but not surprising.
Yup, not good and it doesn’t send a good message to Sal or the fans, especially with a lefty on the mound.
The ONLY thing I can think of behind the rationale behind that is that the Reds are still (sort of and barely) in the playoff race and you want to go with the vets.
Hopefully if and when we are eliminated (not wishing or hoping but reality bites), Sal (and maybe a called up HecRod) plays 99% of the time.
One could argue that both Steer and McLain have received a sobering wake up call knowing Stewart is breathing down their neck for playing time. Amazing how that helps players focus just a little bit more. lol
Steer in last seven games – .304/.385/.522
McLain last seven games – .391/.462/.739
It would seem that even when not playing Stewart is having a positive affect on the offense.
Doug, just fyi, you mistakenly wrote that LaSorsa is right handed