{"id":89868,"date":"2025-08-23T11:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T11:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/89868\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T11:24:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T11:24:12","slug":"who-is-will-banfield-catcher-set-to-make-mlb-debut-for-reds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/89868\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Will Banfield? Catcher set to make MLB debut for Reds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"play\"<\/p>\n

Reds SP Nick Martinez talks no-decision vs. Angels<\/p>\n

Reds starter Nick Martinez pitched six strong innings in a no-decision against the Angels.<\/p>\n

With catcher Tyler Stephenson on the injured list and set to visit a hand specialist<\/a> about his thumb injury, the Cincinnati Reds<\/a> promoted catcher Will Banfield<\/a> from Triple-A Louisville.<\/p>\n

Banfield was batting .220<\/a> with two homers and 23 RBIs in 253 plate appearances this season for the Bats.<\/p>\n

When Banfield makes an appearance for Cincinnati, it will be his MLB debut. Banfield is 25 years old.<\/p>\n

What to know about Banfield, who is wearing No. 49 for the Reds:<\/p>\n

The Reds signed Banfield to a minor-league contract in November 2024<\/p>\n

Banfield became a free agent after playing last season for the Miami Marlins<\/a>‘ Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.<\/p>\n

A second-round<\/a> pick of the Marlins in the 2018 MLB draft, Banfield hit .258 with 23 home runs in 495 plate appearances for the Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos, a former Reds’ affiliate, in 2023.<\/p>\n

The Reds selected pitcher Lyon Richardson<\/a> 22 picks before Miami selected Banfield. Jonathan India was the fifth overall pick in that draft, by the Reds.<\/p>\n

The only defensive position Banfield has played in the minors is catcher.<\/p>\n

Banfield attended the same high school as former Reds pitcher Lucas Sims<\/p>\n

Banfield and Sims<\/a> attended Brookwood High School in Snellville, Georgia, just east of Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Sims, a first-round pick of the Atlanta Braves<\/a> in 2012, posted a 3.94 ERA in 210 appearances for the Reds<\/a> over seven seasons from 2018 to 2024.<\/p>\n

The Reds acquired Sims<\/a> in 2018 along with pitcher Matt Wisler and outfielder Preston Tucker for outfielder Adam Duvall.<\/p>\n

In July 2024, the Reds traded Sims to the Boston Red Sox<\/a> for Ovis Portes. The Washington Nationals released Sims in May. He signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies, and has pitched since May 20 for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n

Banfield was considered among the top defensive prospects at catcher in the 2018 draft<\/p>\n

Banfield was committed to Vanderbilt, but opted to sign with the Marlins for $1,800,000 when they made him the 69th overall pick.<\/p>\n

Former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, a former Reds player, said this to MLB.com<\/a> of Banfield in March 2024, when Banfield was at spring training with the Marlins:<\/p>\n

“Banfield, we love. He’s been great. Definitely has the leadership quality to be a Major League catcher. He’s as good as anybody, and is becoming a good hitter. Last year was a major step for him in the right direction with power and understanding how to hit.”<\/p>\n

In addition to baseball, Banfield played football and swam until his junior year of high school. MLB.com’s Sean Rocca wrote that Banfield played shortstop<\/a> until he was 13 years old, and starting catching because one of his travel teams needed a catcher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reds SP Nick Martinez talks no-decision vs. Angels Reds starter Nick Martinez pitched six strong innings in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[9697,66855,4131,4996,64,63,4034,16468,3929,483,5156,4129,10027,5257,66848,5709,1209,23167,66852,22135,66856,60710,16736,66849,5116,66850,48147,66853,5141,5140,1188,591,621,637,44,323,451,66843,66851,439,5122,13506,49852,66847,66845,20597,66846,66854,5123,85,635,66842,8731,7631,66844],"class_list":["post-89868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-adam","tag-adam-duvall","tag-atlanta","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-baseball","tag-bats","tag-blue","tag-boston","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-braves","tag-cincinnati","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-duvall","tag-ga","tag-india","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-jumbo-shrimp","tag-jonathan","tag-jonathan-india","tag-jumbo","tag-louisville","tag-louisville-bats-baseball","tag-lucas","tag-lucas-sims","tag-lyon","tag-lyon-richardson","tag-marlins","tag-miami","tag-miami-marlins","tag-mlb","tag-national","tag-national-sports","tag-news","tag-overall","tag-overall-positive","tag-pensacola","tag-pensacola-blue-wahoos","tag-positive","tag-red","tag-reds","tag-richardson","tag-schumaker","tag-shrimp","tag-sims","tag-skip","tag-skip-schumaker","tag-sox","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-stephenson","tag-tyler","tag-tyler-stephenson","tag-wahoos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}