GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Reds thought they had the makings of one of baseball's strongest catching duos this season. But that situation quickly became imperiled on Friday.\n\nFirst, the lineup was dealt a blow when the club learned that primary catcher [Tyler Stephenson](https://www.mlb.com/player/663886) will be sidelined for multiple weeks with a low grade internal left oblique strain.\n\nThen during a split-squad game vs. the Diamondbacks, second catcher
Stephenson was initially scratched from Wednesday's game vs. the Rangers, then went in for an MRI on Thursday.
“It was a couple of days ago, the day I was supposed to DH. I worked out and everything felt fine. Then the first couple of swings in the cage, I just kind of felt a little something,\" Stephenson explained. \"I’m kind of glad I stopped when I did. But I feel good. I’m not in a bunch of pain. I’m definitely optimistic. It sucks that I maybe will miss the first few weeks.\n\n\"On the bright side, it’s kind of a best-case scenario. It’s not something that I’m super worried about. I had an oblique \\[injury\\] way back in high school and that was much worse than this.”\n\nStephenson added that his previous oblique issue was not in the same spot.\n\nInjuries limited Stephenson to 50 games in 2022, but he was able to avoid the injured list in each of the past two seasons. The 28-year-old is coming off his most productive overall season, both offensively and defensively. In 2024, he batted .258 with a .782 OPS, 19 home runs and 66 RBIs in 138 games while also catching more than 1,000 innings for the first time in his career.
There was no known target date for when Stephenson could return.\n\n“We really need to stay away from timetables, because we don’t know,\" Francona said. \"I do think we know it’s a good thing he came to the trainer, and they went and got him looked at.\"\n\nIn the meantime, Stephenson will spend his time rehabbing and working out until he is cleared to begin taking swings again.\n\n\"You want to try and be back as soon as possible, but also you don’t want to rush it because it’s something that can linger. We’ll find that line,\" he said. \"I feel good, so I’m hoping everything progresses how it is.”\n\nWithout Stephenson, the bulk of the catching duties were expected to fall to Trevino, who was acquired from the Yankees on Dec. 20 for reliever Fernando Cruz. Trevino played a career-high 115 games in 2022, when he was an All-Star, Gold Glove and Platinum Glove winner for New York.
“It’s funny because you want your catcher to almost be indispensable. You don’t want to find out the hard way that he is,\" Francona said. \"This winter, we were racking our brains at the Winter Meetings. I know Nick \\[Krall\\] and Brad \\[Meador\\] were grinding. We were trying to find a catcher where if something happens to \\[Stephenson\\], you’ve got a guy that can catch multiple days. That’s not easy to do. That’s why when they made the trade for Trevino. That’s where this pays off.”
* Trevino already building strong rapport with Reds pitchers
While Trevino brings big defensive bona fides and works well with pitchers, he will not likely provide production at the same level as Stephenson.\n\nTrevino, 32, is a .236 career hitter with a .637 OPS and 32 home runs over seven seasons with the Rangers and Yankees.\n\nTo back up Trevino, the Reds have an option in non-roster invitee