With catcher Jose Trevino making his way to the Cincinnati Reds to share time behind the plate with Tyler Stephenson, fans are excited for what the former Platinum Glover can bring. While they are not the most high-profile players, this new catching duo can very easily be one of the most productive catching duos in MLB in 2025.
Assessing the Potential of the 2025 Reds Catchers
Tyler Stephenson
Tyler Stephenson is heading into his sixth season in MLB, all with Cincinnati. He has quietly been one of the better offensive catchers in the league, with a career 105 OPS+ and .770 OPS. 2024 was perhaps his most complete season in MLB, playing in 138 games where he slashed .258/.338/.444 with a .782 OPS and 19 home runs. He cut down on the strikeouts, from a 26.1 K% in 2023 to 22.7% in 2024, and continued to walk at a solid rate of 9.3 BB%.
TYLER STEPHENSON 433 FOOT UPPER DECK SHOT
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— ATBBTTR (@ATBBTTR) April 20, 2024
The biggest improvement to his game, however, wasn’t on the offensive end, but rather his defense. In 2023, Stephenson was awful in the receiving department, as he registered -9 Framing Runs, placing him in the bottom of the league (5th percentile). In 2024, he made the jump up to -1 Framing Runs. While this is still around league average (44th percentile), it is a massive improvement, and is no longer a category of weakness in his game. With receiving being the most important job for a catcher, it was promising to see Stephenson make the progress he did from 2023 to 2024.
Another impressive aspect of Stephenson’s game is his production against left-handers. In 2024, he dominated lefties with a slash line of .244/.319/.488 for an .807 OPS. He struck out just 15.9% of the time against lefties while walking 10.1% of the time. While these are impressive numbers, there’s a chance that Stephenson’s production can take another leap, as his .234 BABIP against lefties stood much lower than his career .311 BABIP against lefties. This provides the Reds with not only a certifiable offensive threat behind the plate, but a DH against left-handed starters if needed.
Stephenson’s 2025 Projections
According to Steamer, Stephenson is projected to play 115 games while slashing .252/.328/.419 with a .740 OPS and a 100 wRC+.
ZiPS is higher on Stephenson’s 2025, as they project him to play 134 games, slashing .263/.339/.427 for a .766 OPS and 107 wRC+.
Jose Trevino
The 32-year-old Jose Trevino will be the primary backup catcher in Cincinnati after spending a decorated three years in the Big Apple with the New York Yankees. Unlike Stephenson, Trevino is more of the traditional catcher, who’s defensive-minded and lacking a bit on the offensive end.
He has never surpassed the league average 100 wRC+ threshold, with 2022 being the year he came the closest to it at 90, which was his lone All-Star season. 2022 was also the only year in his career where he logged more than 100 games played.
Trevino is coming off of a 2024 season with the Yankees where he played in 74 games and slashed .215/.288/.354 for a .642 OPS and an 84 wRC+. He is considered a contact hitter with solid plate discipline, as his 17.5 K%, 18.7 Whiff%, 28.7 Chase%, and 8.5 BB% are all at or above league average.
Of course, offense is a less important metric than defense when evaluating a backup catcher. It just so happens that Trevino’s defense is one of the best in baseball. Or is it?
Trevino’s Defense
The former Platinum Glove winner in 2022 has the reputation of being one of the best receivers in baseball. He lived up to this reputation in 2024 as he had 10 Framing Runs (95th percentile), 9 Fielding Run Value (89th percentile), and 7 Blocks Above Average (88th percentile).
While all seems elite, here is where the defensive prowess ends. He was in the 5th percentile in Caught Stealing Above Average (-5), and an unfathomably slow pop time of 2.07 seconds, placing him at the very bottom of MLB (1st percentile). There were many instances in the regular season and postseason where opposing baserunners knew his weakness and ran all over the diamond, most notably on June 16, 2024, where the Boston Red Sox stole a staggering nine bases in one game. Yankees rookie catcher Austin Wells even subbed into late-game situations due to manager Aaron Boone recognizing Trevino’s inability to handle base runners.
While yes, this is a concerning part of Trevino’s game, the best the Reds can hope for is that in the 50 or so starts that he will make backing up Stevenson this season, opponents don’t run around the bases too much. It is still insanely beneficial to the pitching staff to have one of if not the best receivers behind the plate for them. He just unfortunately is among the worst at throwing out base stealers.
Jose Trevino is a magician who turns balls into strikes.
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— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 26, 2022
Trevino’s 2025 Projections
According to Steamer, Trevino is projected to play in 62 games, slashing .244/.294/.392 with an 84 wRC+ and seven home runs.
According to ZiPS, Trevino is projected to play in 85 games (large disparity between the two), slashing .247/.300/.377 with an 84 wRC+ and seven home runs.
New Duo of Reds Catchers: Stevenson and Trevino
The two backstops combined make one of the strongest catching duos in the league heading into 2025. On one hand, you have Tyler Stephenson who hits at a level above league average while providing slightly above league-average defense for about 120 games. Then, sitting on the bench is a capable contact-oriented hitter, who’s also causally the best framer in MLB.
These two Reds catchers will undoubtedly provide many quality innings for an already solid pitching staff, as they hope to return to the postseason for the first time since the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
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