Tyler Stephenson breaks through with a big homer as the Reds beat the Angels

Even though Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson entered Friday with a .195 batting average, Reds manager David Bell saw the signs that a good stretch at the plate was in Stephenson’s near future.

Stephenson entered Friday’s game with the best barrel rate in MLB. Former Reds first baseman Joey Votto views barrel rate as the best way to identify power, and the metric painted a positive picture of Stephenson’s season.

Entering Friday’s game, Stephenson ranked in the top 1% in MLB in barrel rate. The signs were there, and then Stephenson hit the most impressive homer of his career in a 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Great American Ball Park.

"It was a great swing," Bell said. "He finally hit it to the right part of the ballpark. But you can't guide the ball. You continue to hit the ball hard. Tyler is going to get results. It was great to see the results tonight."

To give the Reds the lead in the sixth inning, Stephenson hit the second-hardest hit ball of his career and the farthest homer of his career. It sailed over the strikeouts sign in left field.

Before Friday’s game, Bell said that he expected a moment like this one was on the way for Stephenson. Bell said that Stephenson made a few minor tweaks at the plate early in the season. Since Stephenson made those changes, he has been crushing a lot of high fly balls. Most of those fly balls were caught on the warning track, but Stephenson was heating up.

"We've always known that Tyler can hit," Bell said before the game. "He has made a couple nice adjustments at the plate. Since then, he has been hitting the ball really hard. Maybe not the results to show for it. He has been doing this long enough now to know he's on the right track."

Against the Angels on Friday, Stephenson broke through and got the result he had been waiting for.

Reds starting pitcher Nick Lodolo allowed just one run in 6 ⅓ innings, giving the Reds the type of efficient start that every pitcher in the rotation is aiming toward. He only threw 80 pitches, and he filled up the strike zone all game. When he got to two strikes, he buried breaking balls in the dirt and got Angels hitters to lunge at them.

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It’s already been two years since Angels infielder Brandon Drury predicted starts like this one in Lodolo’s future. “He can be one of the best left-handed starters in this league,” Drury, a former Red, said in 2022. He faced Lodolo on Friday, and Drury struck out in his first at-bat when he chased a curveball below his knees.

Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz played one of his most well-rounded games of the season, creating a run with his speed, saving one with his defense and producing three with a homer.

"I recognize that any time I go out there, I have the same mentality," De La Cruz said. "Creating anything that's going on out there. I know what I can do."

In the second inning, De La Cruz reached base on a ground ball up the middle. He stole second base, and then he stole third. When the throw from Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe got past Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon, De La Cruz jogged home to score.

The old adage is that runners should never make the last out at third base. De La Cruz took that risk when he stole third base, and the aggressiveness paid off with a run.

The following inning, Rendon hit a sharp ground ball that should have gotten through between De La Cruz and Reds third baseman Santiago Espinal. De La Cruz saved a run by showing his range, fielding the ball and kept it in the infield. When Angels right fielder Jo Adell tried to score as De La Cruz threw the ball to first, Reds first baseman Spencer Steer relayed that throw to home plate and picked off Adell.

Then in the eighth inning, De La Cruz delivered the final blow. He hit a three-run homer against Angels reliever José Cisnero that put the Reds up, 7-1. When Cisnero left a fastball over the middle, De La Cruz showed the adjustment he worked on all offseason and crushed an opposite field homer.

"He works hard, and you can definitely see the talent," Lodolo said. "He has been unbelievable."

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Tyler Stephenson hits breakthrough homer in Reds win over the Angels