Alfredo Duno’s injury has turned an already obvious Reds question into an even louder one.
The club’s No. 1 prospect was moving toward the kind of development that could have put him in the picture sooner, but that path hit a snag in late July when he pulled his right hamstring while legging out an infield single. With only a month left in the minor-league season, he could be out for the rest of it.
That matters because Cincinnati has a catching decision looming, and Duno’s setback only makes the answer clearer: the Reds should work to lock up Tyler Stephenson before he reaches free agency when the season ends.
The Reds already chose not to move Stephenson at the deadline. Pair that with Duno’s injury, and the case for keeping the veteran catcher gets stronger. If Stephenson walks, Cincinnati could be staring at a rough situation behind the plate.
Without him, Jose Trevino would be the primary catcher, with P.J. Higgins or Will Banfield backing him up.
That would give the Reds more defense, but it would also mean a noticeable drop in offense. For a team that has scored the fewest runs in the National League this season, that kind of tradeoff is hard to stomach.
Duno’s injury doesn’t completely change the long-term picture, but it does delay it. Even if he were healthy, he still would not have solved the immediate problem. At best, he had been rolling through the minors and might have put himself in position for a late-season call-up in 2027.
Because of that uncertainty, Cincinnati may need to think beyond a short stopgap. The Reds could look at James McCann or another veteran free agent with enough bat to hold things down until Duno arrives. But if Duno is pushed back until 2028 or later, multi-year planning becomes the priority.
Stephenson is the cleanest fit. The other notable catching names that could hit the market are Ryan Jeffers and William Contreras.
Contreras has a one-year club option, which could lead the Milwaukee Brewers to consider trading him the way they did Freddy Peralta last winter. The Reds would also have to battle the New York Yankees for both Jeffers and Stephenson.
If money becomes the separator, the outcome is easy to see.
The window is open for Cincinnati to act now. With the distractions and competition stripped away, the Reds can give themselves a smoother bridge from Stephenson to Duno, no matter how long that bridge has to be.
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