CINCINNATI — It was 49 minutes after Colorado Rockies catcher Jacob Stallings grounded into an inning-ending double play on Thursday that his counterpart on the Cincinnati Reds, Austin Wynns, rolled in from the area underneath the stands at Great American Ball Park where the team’s training room and weight room are located.
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Every player does a post-game aftercare routine, and few have to be more dedicated to that than a 33-year-old journeyman catcher.
Wynns had just caught nine innings in Cincinnati in July. Even on a day that was more pleasant than usual for this time of year, it’s not pleasant under the gear a catcher wears and through nine innings.
Before Wynns could get to a well-deserved shower, he was interrupted by a reporter to see if he had a minute or two to discuss the Reds’ 8-1 victory over the Rockies.
Wynns agreed and listened as the reporter fumbled through a question about the difficulties of the life of a veteran catcher who is bouncing between Triple-A and the big leagues.
The next locker over sat a rookie starter, Carson Spiers, who tried to save everyone some time by answering the question for his catcher.
“Because he’s a pro,” Spiers said.
Spiers wasn’t being a jerk. He was answering the question for his catcher in the most succinct — and in the ways of baseball parlance, most complimentary — way. If there’s a word to describe Wynns, it’s “pro.” Wynns not only called a great game behind the plate for All-Star Hunter Greene, who allowed a run on two hits with 10 strikeouts over six innings to improve to 6-4 on the season, but also singled.
Hunter Greene is one to always give praise to his teammates.
Cool to hear what he sad to say about Austin Wynns. #Reds
— Reds Daily (@RedsDaily4) July 11, 2024
In baseball, teams need those pros like Wynns and shortstop Santiago Espinal, who went 2-for-4 with a home run. Espinal started at shortstop for Elly De La Cruz, who got his first full game off in the team’s 94 games. It was important for De La Cruz to get a day off because next week he will be in Texas for All-Star festivities.
Even in a game that was important for the Reds as they tried to stay in playoff contention ahead of the break, it was vital for De La Cruz to get at least a small break from a day game ahead of a night game Friday. Espinal made it so the Reds didn’t need to use him. Wynns let Reds manager David Bell use regular catcher Tyler Stephenson as the designated hitter for a day game after a night game, to which Stephenson responded with his first two-homer game in the big leagues and drove in five runs.
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For the Reds to be successful, small-role players like Wynns and Espinal need to be ready when their numbers are called.
“I know my role,” Wynns said. “I’m going to go out there and do my business.”
The Reds signed Wynns to a split contract in December, even though the team had already signed veteran Luke Maile to a big-league deal to back up Stephenson. Because of the complexities of big-league roster rules, he was designated for assignment in January, cleared waivers and accepted his outright assignment. He’s gone through that same process twice already in the last month, first when Stephenson was away from the team for a couple of days and then again when Stephenson went on the paternity list following the birth of his daughter. Wynns accepted his assignment both times — a fate he could reject — and stayed with the Reds. He was then called back up last week when Maile was placed on the injured list.
Since spring training, Wynns has been quietly preparing for this unglamorous role in which he spends most of his time with the Triple-A Louisville Bats while knowing that he could be summoned to the big leagues on short notice.
“I know they’re under contract — those are horses, captains of the team,” Wynns said of Stephenson and Maile. “I have nothing but respect for them and what they bring to this team in terms of leadership and guidance. Me being a part of this as well, I understand my role and I’m going to do the best I can day in and day out.”
Tuesday when Greene’s All-Star spot was announced to the team, he first thanked Maile and Stephenson and then Wynns — “I know you haven’t caught me … but our conversation’s always been good. Those are the first three people I think about, my catchers.”
The moment you find out you’re an All-Star ❤️ pic.twitter.com/FFQTuQ3J5e
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 9, 2024
Thursday, Wynns was behind the plate for Greene for the first time. Each of the first seven outs Greene recorded was via strikeout.
“You see how he thinks and how much he cares about his position and the best he can do for pitchers,” Greene said. “I had the utmost confidence in him catching me today.”
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Wynns was a 10th-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles out of Fresno State in 2013. He made his big-league debut for the Orioles in 2018. He’s been an up-and-down player since then, appearing for the Orioles in 2019 and 2021. After time in the Philadelphia Phillies organization in 2022, the San Francisco Giants traded for him that season and he appeared in 65 MLB games. Last season, he played a total of 51 big-league games for the Giants, Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers.
As soon as Wynns signed with the Reds, he started studying Cincinnati pitchers, a practice that continued in spring training and into the season.
“Trust is earned. You have to communicate, see what he’s trying to do. You have to dive in and learn what he likes doing, what he wants to do and then how to word certain things to make him better,” Wynns said. “Someone once told me that you have 13 wives in this clubhouse. You need to learn how to woo them, how to push them, how to guide them.”
Although Greene has mixed in his curveball and splitter this season to great success, Wynns hardly called either of those pitches. Of the 97 pitches Greene threw, 49 were fastballs and 45 were sliders. They were working Thursday, especially the slider, which accounted for 13 of the 17 swings-and-misses Greene generated.
The first non-strikeout out the Reds recorded came in the third inning after Greene issued a leadoff walk to Nolan Jones. Following a strikeout of Hunter Goodman, Jones tried to steal second. Wynns made a throw to the first-base side of the bag, which Espinal caught on a short hop. He tagged Jones on his left foot as he slid head-first into second. Jones was called safe at second but the play was overturned on replay. After the call was announced, TV cameras showed both Greene and Wynns applauding Espinal for the tag.
While Wynns was added as always valuable catching depth in the offseason, the Reds were forced to scramble to make a deal for Espinal in the waning days of spring training due to injuries that depleted their starting shortstop depth. That depth was seen as a strength of the team heading into spring training, but as the team prepared to come to Cincinnati, they had no backup shortstop. So the team traded minor-league right-hander Chris McElvain to Toronto for Espinal.
An All-Star for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022, Espinal’s numbers wouldn’t earn him another trip this year. But he’s been a vital part of the team. He’s played four different positions, including the outfield for the first time in his big-league career. He’s the only Red to play shortstop other than De La Cruz.
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“He’s a solid baseball player, solid person,” Bell said. “He’s great when he’s not playing, he’s very supportive of his teammates and he’s really into the game and finding ways to help us win.”
In other words, he’s a pro.
“There’s always those role players, off-the-bench players,” Wynns said, “and you’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity when it’s given.”
(Photo of Austin Wynns: Katie Stratman / USA Today)
