Photo: Redleg Nation Staff
The Cincinnati Reds and Tyler Stephenson had their arbitration case yesterday and today we found out that it was the player who won the hearing as reported by Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati made an offer of $6,550,000 and Stephenson countered with $6,800,000. That difference was small in the context of the offers but they couldn’t come to an agreement before the hearing.
After presenting their cases to the arbiter it seems as though the better case was made by Stephenson and his agent than by the Reds front office. The catcher will get $6,800,000 for the 2026 season. This year is his final year under team control and unless he signs an extension he will be a free agent following the year.
In 2025 Stephenson played in 88 games and hit .231/.316/.421 with 18 doubles, 13 home runs, 37 walks, and 116 strikeouts. Those strikeouts nearly matched his total from 2024 when he had 117. But he played in 50 more games in 2024 than he did in 2025, struggling to make contact throughout the year last season.
For his career, Stephenson has spent parts of six seasons with the Reds. He made his debut in 2020 when he played in eight games. The next year he took over as the starter and played in 132 games and finished 6th in the Rookie of the Year Award. In his career he’s now played in 558 games and has hit .261/.338/.426 for his career. That .764 OPS translates to a 104 OPS+.
Stephenson, who turned 29-years-old late last season, will be splitting some time behind the plate with backup Jose Trevino. Last year the two of them helped the pitching staff lead the majors in ERA+ (ERA after including park factors for where they played all 162 games). The two of them will be looking to try and help repeat that again in 2026 with a cast of guys that are returning, mixed in with a few new faces.
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