Bats pitcher Robert Stephenson aims at a return to Cincinnati Reds

For the Louisville Bats' most-touted starting pitcher, Friday night’s six-inning performance was both typical and extraordinary. It contrasted where Robert Stephenson is with the promise of what he can be.

There was the first inning, for example. Stephenson gave up a leadoff home run, a single, a walk and then hit the Toledo Mud Hens’ Edwin Espinal in the face.

“I was trying to go high (with a) two-strike fastball, and it got away from me,” Stephenson said later. “Same with the next one too.”

After also plunking the leadoff batter in the second inning – again with two strikes – Stephenson suddenly became unhittable. He didn’t allow a hit in five innings, striking out six, retiring the final 11 batters in order. He looked every bit like one of the top prospects in baseball, which he has been for years now, ever since he was a first-round draft pick in 2011.

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Stephenson was a California high-schooler then. He’s now 25, no longer listed as a prospect and two seasons removed from the first of what has so far been four career call-ups from the Bats to the Reds.

The potential remains special, but Stephenson is still not quite there yet, the Reds have surmised. There are flashes of brilliance, like those five innings Friday night. There also remains those troubling hiccups and concerns about his control.

“He’s basically been sent back down here because of his lack of consistency up there,” said former Major Leaguer Jeff Fassero, the Bats’ pitching coach. “He shows up for three, four innings down here, then he loses it again. … He’s got starting (pitcher) stuff, but he’s got to throw more strikes with his starting stuff, especially his fastball.”

“Teams that are more aggressive, I’m able to get quicker outs because they swing a lot more,” Stephenson said. “It’s the guys that like to take pitches that I have a problem with, and being able to pound the zone and get them to swing the bat is the biggest challenge for me, especially with some of those teams that are really patient.”

Stephenson’s latest promotion to Cincinnati, in July last season, figured to maybe be his final one. Stephenson stuck for a while this time, appearing in 25 games for the Reds in 2017, starting 11 of them and posting a respectable 4.68 earned run average after a strong finish to the regular season.

He averaged 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings, but there was also this: He averaged 5.6 walks, the most of any of his seasons as a professional.

“Everyone always talks about the fastball command,” Stephenson said. “And I agree with that to an extent. Obviously, I’d like to limit the walk numbers, but at the same time, I don’t think that they are the most important things ever. If you can get guys out without them getting hits, then I don’t think that walks should be as big of a deal. But I know that’s definitely one of the biggest things that they want me to work on is being able to limit the walks and limiting baserunners.”

When spring training rolled around in 2018, Stephenson struggled to a 7.71 ERA in five games. That wasn’t good enough to make the big-league club to open the season.

Back to Louisville he went.

“I thought that I proved myself pretty well last year at the end of the season,” Stephenson said. “I came into spring training, and I definitely didn’t perform well in the spring. But it was surprising to me, just to base everything completely off of spring.”

Stephenson said he is staying “positive about everything” and won’t be discouraged, having learned it's the best way back to Cincinnati. “Negativity is only going to make everything worse,” he said.

“It’s definitely, more so when you’re there (in the Majors), kind of the feeling that there’s someone looking over your shoulder at all times and the uncertainty of being sent down,” Stephenson said. “I think it just kind of takes time for it to actually settle in, where you realize, ‘Hey, I’m not going anywhere,’ and then you’re able to perform and be comfortable. But until that time, for me anyway, it was tough to just be able to relax (with the Reds).”

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So far this season, Stephenson has been brilliant at times for the Bats. He struck out 10 batters in seven scoreless innings on April 11. In four of his seven starts, he has allowed one run or fewer.

His ERA this season is 3.93, and he has struck out 40 hitters in 35 ⅔ innings. His walk rate in 2018, however, is up. He is averaging 6.1 walks per nine innings. It was 2.9 through a similar amount of innings with the Bats last season.

Stephenson continues to work with Fassero, addressing issues that have caused him to be sidetracked on the mound. Fassero said it can perhaps be attributed at times to Stephenson’s mechanics and other times to his mental approach.

“There’s been a lot of pitchers that have a lot of good stuff that just can’t quite get it locked in,” Fassero said. “And a lot of those guys end up in the bullpen. But with Robert’s stuff: the slider, the split, the fastball is averaging 94 miles an hour right now – that’s up from last year. Everything is getting closer. It’s just a matter of delivering consistently and his head staying in the game.”

Stephenson is clear in saying “I absolutely see myself as a starter in the big leagues,” though he did both for the Reds last season. He’d obviously pitch in Cincinnati’s bullpen now too if asked.

“But ideally, I want to be up there as a starter,” Stephenson said. “So I’m OK with being here right now and starting and waiting for an opportunity to be in the rotation there.”

Gentry Estes: 502-582-4205; gestes@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @Gentry_Estes. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/gentrye