A little over five years ago, Trevor Stephan took the call that changed his life: the Yankees were drafting him with the No. 92 overall selection in the third round of the 2017 MLB Draft, putting his potential future as a big-league hurler in pinstripes.
On Tuesday night, he made his second career appearance at Yankee Stadium and his first in the postseason – but it came five years, a step backwards, a Rule 5 Draft, and a team change after that moment the Yankees selected him.
Still, that didn’t change what was a “cool” moment for the former Yankees farmhand.
“Yeah, it was a cool moment for sure,” Stephan said Wednesday, on the workout day between Games 1 and 2 of the ALDS. “Obviously warming up in that situation, I wish I came into the game with a closer game.
But I thought Cal (Quantrill) pitched his ass off and it was unfortunate the way it fell out.”
Stephan was rocketing through the Yankees’ system as a starter, but hit a rough patch in 2019 and ended up going backwards, from Double-A to High-A, midseason. He then missed 2020 as he was not at the Yankees’ Alternate Site in the COVID-shortened season, and when that year concluded, Cleveland rolled the dice on a now-Rule 5 eligible Stephan and added him to the roster.
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After a frustrating two years, he was thrilled to have a fresh start.
“I was happy, honestly. In 2020, I was at home. I didn't get invited to the alternate site. After that happened, I was hoping I got Rule 5'd, honestly,” Stephan said. “And to get this opportunity with Cleveland, it's a blessing, and I'm glad it happened.”
Stephan made some good friends in his time in the organization, including Clarke Schmidt, who was the Yankees’ first-round pick the year they selected Stephan and became a teammate in both Tampa and Trenton.
“I feel like any time you're grinding through the minor leagues -- you know, I was roommates with Michael King and we got close. And then Clarke, same draft class. So we shared the journey together for the first few years,” Stephan said. “It's awesome to see the success and just being in the League together at the same time. It's cool.”
Still, he’s happy to be in Cleveland, where he was moved to the bullpen and had an up-and-down rookie season – but one that saw him tweaking some of his mechanics, including his splitter. Whatever he found worked, as he was perhaps the Indians’ most trusted reliever behind closer Emmanuel Clase and fireman James Karinchak, pitching to a 2.69 ERA in 63 2/3 innings.
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“I had it, but it definitely developed this year I threw it more around the strike zone and it became a weapon to lefties and righties,” Stephan said of his splitter. “I never had that in the minor or the first half of my rookie year. That's definitely a pitch that clicked later in my rookie season.”
Credit, he said, to his new teammates.
“Bryan Shaw taught me the grip, and then Blake Parker and I really just talked,” Stephan said. “He threw a split finger, so he walked me through how to use it and what he felt throwing it, and trial and error. Blake helped me a ton last year.”
Stephan has pitched two clean innings so far this postseason with three strikeouts, and would love one more chance to pitch at Yankee Stadium with the Guardians holding a lead – but for now, he’ll take a defined role and the confidence of his skipper.
“We actually kind of early in the season put him in some pretty high-leverage situations just because we were really young, and he was throwing the ball really well coming out of spring training – and the split early in the season helped a ton, especially against left-handers,” Terry Francona said of Stephan. “Then I think he kind of fell in love with it, and kind of lost it a little. But he's come back, like good pitchers do, and made adjustments.
He's been really good for us. This kid was Rule 5'd a couple years ago and now he's pitching a lot of games in the eighth inning. That's pretty impressive.
He's done a good job for us.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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