Robert Stephenson

Position: RHP
Born: 2/24/1993
Height: 6'2
Weight: 200
B/T: R/R
Acquired: Drafted in the first round (27# overall) of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft (CIN).

Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
2015 SEASON STATS: Combined to go 8-11 with a 3.83 ERA in 25 starts between Pensacola (Double-A) and Louisville (Triple-A), striking out 140 over 134 IP while walking 70 and allowing 104 hits.

Info & MLB Debut Date
Recalled from Louisville (Triple-A) April 4 when RHP Homer Bailey went on the DL.
MLB Debut Date: 4/7/2016

Debut Details
April 7, in a 10-6 win over the Phillies. The starting pitcher, he got the win, going five innings and allowing three earned runs on six hits, walking two while striking out one. He also hit Andres Blanco with a pitch and gave up a pair of homers, to Cedric Hunter and Ryan Howard. Stephenson threw 87 pitches, 57 of them for strikes, before being removed for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning with the Reds up 9-4. At the plate, he was 0-for-1, striking out on a missed bunt. He successfully laid down a sac bunt in his other plate appearance.

Player Notes
Stephenson, who was sent back down to Louisville after the game to make room for INF Brandon Allen, ranks as one of the top pitching prospects in the system and the club is taking its time with him. In 2015, he led the organization in strikeouts (140) and BAA (.218) but also in losses (11) and walks (70). Armed with a fastball in the high 90s, a plus-plus curveball and a changeup considered tops in the organization, he spent all of 2014 at Pensacola, where he was 7-10 with a 4.74 ERA in 26 starts, fanning 140 in 136.2 innings, scattering 114 hits and allowing 74 walks. He had pitched at three levels in 2013, combining for a 2.99 ERA in 22 starts between Dayton (Class A), Bakersfield (High A) and Pensacola, fanning 136 in 114.1 innings and walking just 35.

2080 Notes
Ranked at No. 78 in 2080 Baseball’s Preseason Top 125 Prospects Ranking List. 2080’s C.J. Wittman said: “He’s had a tumultuous career to this point, but Stephenson still has the top-line stuff that can tease into a frontline-starter profile.” See Witmann’s profile of Stephenson here.