Inside catcher Tyler Stephenson’s road to the Cincinnati Reds

In 2012, Kennesaw Mountain High School’s pitching coach approached the manager with an idea: What if they let a true freshman, a 14-year-old catcher, call games from behind the plate?

Usually, a catcher waits to become a professional to begin telling a pitcher what to throw and shaping the game from behind the plate. But this catcher was Tyler Stephenson.

And as a high school baseball player in Kennesaw, Georgia, the game came naturally to him.

“I remember being a freshman in high school, I was 14 years old and my coach told me you’ve got to start calling games because later on that’s what you’re going to be asked to do,” Stephenson said. “It was great to hear that back then. Now, I take pride…