Tyler Stephenson extension just became urgent after Reds' biggest weakness got worse

To the Cincinnati Reds, catcher Tyler Stephenson has only gotten more valuable by the day. That might sound weird to say as the 29-year-old is coming off the second-worst season of his career, but it couldn't be truer.

Stephenson's future in Cincinnati has been a hot topic of debate for a while. While the backstop's bat has always been tremendously potent for the position, injuries are regularly an issue for Stephenson. On top of that, his defense has typically been a mixed bag, where his blocking has been a strength, but his framing and control of the run game have been negatives to varying degrees.

Therefore, one could have seen the trade that brought Jose Trevino to Cincinnati last offseason as an indictment of Stephenson. After all, Trevino was an All-Star back in 2022 and showed during his time in New York that he can be a competent member of a 50-50 timeshare behind the plate, at minimum. Those sentiments only heightened once the Reds handed Trevino a three-year extension, keeping him with the club through at least 2027.

Stephenson, meanwhile, will be entering his final year of arbitration and will be hitting free agency after the 2026 season. So why is it crucial that the Reds lock up the powerful catcher now? There are a couple of reasons.

The Reds need to urgently extend Tyler Stephenson given the state of their roster

The urgency resides primarily in how Stephenson fits with the rest of Cincinnati's pieces. The Reds already struggle to produce offense, ranking 14th in runs scored and 21st in both slugging percentage and homers in 2025, and those numbers would look worse with a full season of Ke'Bryan Hayes on the roster.

The Reds' big deadline acquisition has a fantastic glove, but Hayes has struggled to hit for nearly his entire career. Aside from a brief moment of competence in 2023 when he posted a 101 wRC+, Hayes has been a below-average hitter for the majority of his career. The past two years have been his worst at the plate with wRC+ marks of 60 and 65 in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Hayes isn't the only glove-first bat-never player in the lineup. Matt McLain may have posted six outs above average at second this season, but his return from a shoulder injury produced ghastly results at the plate with a .220/.300/.343 line that was a far cry from his 2023 production. Until he proves that 2025 and not 2023 was the fluke, he'll have to be considered another blackhole in the lineup.

Cincinnati has some above-average hitters in the lineup, of course, but none are truly elite. Barring a breakout from youngsters like Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, and/or a full season of top-end production from Sal Stewart, they simply can't afford to carry three below-average hitters in the lineup. That's exactly what most catchers are, below-average offensive players. Stephenson is not, therefore, his bat has an outsized impact for Cincinnati.

The second piece is the changes coming down the pike for 2026. Stephenson's biggest wart defensively is his awful pitch framing. While we're not yet at the point of fully robot umpires, the introduction of the ABS challenge system will help to offset his framing deficiency, making the total package he provides that much more valuable.

Catchers who can hit like Stephenson don't grow on trees, and given the dearth of other consistent offensive contributors in the lineup, the Reds need to get serious about an extension soon to keep him in Cincinnati for the foreseeable future.

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