Tyler Stephenson Strained Left Oblique May Keep Him Out On Opening Day

 

 

Dateline: 318 Kilometers from the Gulf of Mexico

A chilly morning on Friday March 14 added cold water to the Reds’ starting catcher.

Tyler Stephenson reported to trainers on March 12 that he felt some tightness in his lower back. The Reds decided to send Stephenson for an MRI on Thursday afternoon. The pictures painted a wrinkled portrait of the Reds catching.

The team reported a "low-grade internal oblique strain" on his left side.

Obliques are a mystery that can last months or weeks. No one can predict when Stephenson will be ready but there is a good chance, Stephenson will start the season on the injured list.

Manager Terry Francona told the press in his pregame meeting. That the Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmyer reported this morning. 

It's a good thing he came to the trainer and they got him looked at," Francona said. "Because at first he said, 'I'm fine.' 

The bright side for the Reds defensively is they traded for gold glove catcher, Jose Trevino. Trevino, who the Reds got from the New York Yankees for Fernando Cruz, will jump into a starting role. Austin Wynns or Will Banfield could be elevated to Major League backup.

Wynns cut down three runners this spring, tied for fourth in the Majors.

Wynns is hitting .200 in seven games as of March 14.

Banfield, who is starting the game on March 14 against the Chicago White Sox, has played in 10 games, hitting .182 with a triple, a home run and four RBI.

"It's funny because you want your catcher to almost be indispensable, but you don't want to find out the hard way that he is," Francona said. "This winter we were racking our brains at the winter meetings – I know (team president) Nick (Krall) and (GM) Brad (Meador), they were grinding, man – because we were trying to find a catcher where if something happens, you've got a guy who can catch multiple days. That's not easy to do.”

Offensively, the Reds have a bigger challenge to replace Stephenson’s bat.  He was hitting .227 with two doubles, a home run and four RBI this spring.

Trevino was hitting .174 in nine games with two doubles. Trevino’s best offensive season was 2022 when he made the American League All-Star squad. He hit 248 in 115 games with 12 doubles, a triple, 11 home runs and 43 RBI.

The Reds planned to get Stephenson’s bat in the lineup by using the DH when he wasn’t catching. They have several options for that with Jeimer Candelario, Gavin Lux, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Spencer Steer, when he gets healthy and their outfielders.

"You can't have two Tyler Stephensons," Francona said. "Our job is to manage it the best we can, and I think we will. I think the guys will be fine, and we'll get him healthy and get him going again."