About midway through the Cincinnati Reds’ 8-7 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Monday, bench coach Freddie Benavides turned to catcher Tyler Stephenson and told him to start warming up.
It made sense. The Reds were down 6-0 in the fifth inning and 7-0 in the top of the sixth inning. Curt Casali had caught every inning this season, so it was an opportunity to give him a break and let Stephenson make his MLB debut.
Stephenson, the No. 11 overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, was called up to the big-league roster Sunday when Mike Moustakas was placed on the injured list.