Reds' Tyler Stephenson: Clubs grand slam in loss
Stephenson went 1-for-4 with a walk and a grand slam in Wednesday's 8-7 extra-inning loss to the Nationals.
The backstop gave the Reds a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when he crushed an elevated Jake Irvin sinker over the left-field fence, but the game went sideways for Cincinnati from there. It was Stephenson's third career grand slam and also his third long ball of 2026 as he struggles to deliver consistent offense. Through 35 games, he's slashing just .187/.285/.308 with seven runs and 11 RBI despite plenty of red on his Statcast page -- Stephenson's 85th percentile average exit velocity of 91.9 mph would be a career high, and it comes with an 82nd percentile hard-hit rate, 81st percentile barrel rate and 93rd percentile chase rate.
