Reds have three catchers and zero solutions to this brutal flaw

For some odd reason, the Cincinnati Reds are still carrying three catchers. Tyler Stephenson, Jose Trevino, and Austin Wynns are all taking up spots on the Reds active roster, and yet, none of them are having much success throwing out would-be base stealers this season.

According to Baseball Savant, Trevino is among the worst in Major League Baseball, throwing out just 17% of runners attempting to steal a base. Wynns, who hasn't started a game behind the plate in over a month, isn't much better (22%). Stephenson's 23% caught stealing percentage is at least league-average, but opposing teams are having a field day running on the Reds' catchers.

As a team, the Reds' rank 22nd in the league with opponents stealing 0.86 base per game. Last season, with a combination of Stephenson, Wynns, and Luke Maile behind the dish, that number was 0.76, which placed the Reds 19th among all 30 MLB teams.

Reds catchers Tyler Stephenson, Jose Trevino, and Austin Wynns are not good at throwing out base runners

When you dig a little deeper into the advanced metrics, you'll see that Stephenson has been among the worst in MLB in pop time since 2023. For those unaware, pop time measures the amount of time it takes from the moment a catcher receives a pitch to deliver the ball to the fielder's glove. League average is 2.0 seconds. Stephenson has been below that mark since 2022 (1.94 seconds). One has to wonder if the shoulder injury Stephenson incurred that season has dramatically effected his ability to throw out would-be base stealers.

Trevino won a Platinum Glove in 2022, however, that wasn't handed out based on his ability to gun down base runners. Instead, Trevino's elite defensive skills center around his ability to block balls in the dirt and frame pitches — something that will lose its value once the automated ball-strike (ABS) system is implemented in the future. Trevino's pop time (2.02 seconds) this season, like Stephenson, is among the worst in the league.

Given the fact that Wynns hasn't started a game behind the dish since April 30 and is likely ticketed for a DFA any day now, it hardly seems warranted to reveal his advanced metrics. For those interested, however, Wynns is tops among Reds' catchers with a 1.96 second pop time, and was among the best in the game in that category during his 2023 season with the Colorado Rockies.

There's a lot more to catching than throwing out would-be base stealers, and a certain amount of those stolen bases should be credited to the pitcher's account, not the catcher. It is, however, an area of weakness on this year's Reds team that seemingly has no easy solution. Opposing base runners no doubt lick their chops when facing the Reds, knowing that swiping an extra bags isn't all that difficult.

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