Reds fans are watching Tyler Stephenson erase a long standing weakness

Tyler Stephenson has always been known as a bat-first catcher. But lately, it's been his defensive skills behind the plate that have stood out, and the advent of the ABS challenge system has taken one of his greatest weaknesses and turned it into a strength.

Coming up through the Cincinnati Reds farm system, scouts always lauded him for his impressive offensive statistics. From 2017-2019, Stephenson hit .269/.359/.404 with a 117 wRC+ across 178 minor league games.

When Stephenson made his way to the big leagues in 2020, that offensive profile followed him. Through his first three seasons in the major leagues — one of which was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic and another due to injury — he hit .296/.369/.454 with a 120 wRC+.

Since 2023, however, Stephenson's numbers has dropped off. Over the past three seasons combined, the Reds' starting backstop hit just .246/.325/.414 with a 99 wRC+ and is hitting a meager .191/.294/.321 in 2026.

Those numbers can be considered acceptable for a catcher; but that hinges on his defensive acumen behind the plate. Thankfully, the normally offensive-minded Stephenson has turned a corner defensively this season, and he has ABS (at least in part) to thank for it.

Tyler Stephenson's adjustment to ABS has quieted Reds fans' concerns

The ABS challenge system has certainly changed the game this season. Not only can batters challenge an umpire's errant call on a pitch that's three inches off the plate, but pitchers and catchers can steal a strike if they have a good understanding of the strike zone.

Stephenson is showing off his new defensive chops, and has become a regular savant behind the plate when asking an ABS review. According to Baseball Savant, Stephenson is the best in the business when it comes to Net ABS Overturns.

He's also been successful 78% of the time when challenging the umpire's original call. Stephenson ranks ninth among all MLB catchers having challenged 41 calls, and no player who's made more requests has a success rate higher than 60%. In other words, not only does Stephenson make frequent appeals, but he's much better at it than his cohorts.

This is a skill that's coming in rather handy for Stephenson, especially in light of the fact that he's not very adept when it comes to framing pitches. In fact, he ranks among the very worst in the league when it comes to stealing strikes. But it would seem that his newfound expertise when it comes to using ABS makes his previous shortcoming rather superfluous.

Stephenson has been drawing a lot of starts behind the dish of late with Jose Trevino on the injured list. PJ Higgins, who's also very proficient using the ABS challenge system, has been starting about once or twice per week in Trevino's absence.

All combined, Reds catchers are 38-for-51 (74.5%) when it comes to overturning balls to strikes. That's a talent that shouldn't go unnoticed, and could Stephenson net a lucrative free-agent deal next winter.

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