"He's been a performer down there," Reds manager Bryan Price said on Friday. "He's done what we've asked, which was to pound the zone. We've also asked him to work on his slider, which he has done. He has thrown it very effectively. We also have to learn about these guys. We've had a rough start to the second half. We have a lot of questions to answer about our club, in particularly with our pitching and where we're going. Those questions will go unanswered if we don't give these guys an opportunity to pitch."
Stephenson struggled in Spring Training, but earned a big league bullpen spot out of camp.