Robert Stephenson looks like he’ll start for the Cincinnati Reds this week. It may be just a one-time start for the Reds’ top pitching prospect after the team added Stephenson to the roster and placed Homer Bailey on the 15-day disabled list.
Stephenson has just 55.2 innings at Triple-A under his belt. He had a 4.04 ERA last year in 11 Triple-A starts. The expectation for Stephenson was that he would season for a full year in Triple-A in 2016. He probably will follow that plan after his likely start on Thursday.
Stephenson did little this spring to show he’s ready for the big leagues. His spring training was awful. He had a 9.58 ERA in four Cactus League starts.
Attrition made it necessary for the Reds to find a starter for the third game of their opening series with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Reds have other starting pitchers starting the season on the DL besides Bailey. With other options like Josh Smith and Tim Melville available to the Reds for the spot start, the Reds seem to have chosen Stephenson.
The service time clock now starts for Stephenson, who was already in his first year of options as a 40-man roster player. The service time clock can just as easily be put back on hold once Stephenson is shipped back to Triple-A after the start.
Or maybe not. It could be a longer stay with the big club if the 23-year-old right-handed power pitcher can disprove the perception he belongs in the minors.
There’s a chance Stephenson could stick around long enough for a second start either way. The more experience he gets to take back to Triple-A with him, the better.
Stephenson may find this sudden calling to the Reds to be exactly what he needed to help put the finishing touch on the start of a promising career with the Reds.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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