The Cincinnati Reds didn’t call up too many players when September began, but Robert Stephenson was among the few players that they did choose to call up. The 23-year-old right hander got the ball on Monday afternoon for the Reds as they took on the Mets, filling in for Homer Bailey in the rotation.
Robert Stephenson has battled control at times in the minor leagues, and it’s been the reason that he’s likely been in the minor leagues since April before returning earlier today to make his third start of the year. The right hander didn’t have any control issues on the day. Stephenson managed to allow just two runs in 5.1 innings against the Mets on Monday afternoon, both coming on solo home runs. He walked just one batter and he struck out nine. He threw 100 total pitches and 64 of them were strikes.
Breaking down the data
| Pitch | avgVelo | maxVelo | Usage | K% | SwingK |
| Fastball | 94.6 | 96.7 | 53% | 59% | 3 |
| Splitter | 85.4 | 86.6 | 12% | 67% | 5 |
| Curveball | 82.2 | 84.4 | 35% | 71% | 6 |
Stephenson relied heavily on his curveball on the day, throwing it 35% of the time on the day. It was working well, for the most part. He threw it for strikes often, but both home runs he allowed did come on the curve. The fastball velocity was strong on the day, averaging nearly 95 MPH (the 94.6MPH would rank 10th in baseball among qualified starters), but he used it surprisingly less than one would have expected. Most pitchers use the fastball about 65% of the time (On 4/7 he was at 71% and on 4/19 it was 59%). The splitter was very effective, getting five swings and misses on the pitch while only throwing 12 of them in the game.
It was a nice start from the righty, one that hopefully he can build upon moving forward in the month where he’s expected to get at least a few more starts this year. He’s currently sitting at 154.0 innings on the season between his two stops. After throwing 136.2 innings last year, he’s probably safe to make at least 2-3 more starts.