Tyler Stephenson has a broken thumb and everything is awful

Cincinnati Reds star Tyler Stephenson took a foul ball to his right thumb during Thursday’s meltdown loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, immediately exiting the game upon contact. It looked bad, it looked like it felt bad to him, and it immediately felt like it was going to feel really, really bad for Reds fans.

As it turns out, it will - Stephenson will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks as it’s officially broken and busted, as Charlie Goldsmith of The Enquirer relayed after the game.

This, of course, comes on the heels of Tyler having had bouts of concussions earlier in the season from other foul balls strategically making contact with other parts of his body.

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

It was always going to be a difficult year for the Reds, what with their trades of [/insert any big name player here] combined with [/insert frugal decision to jettison others here]. The promise was, though, that at least we’d get to see the next wave of Reds get their chance to stake a claim to the future of the National League Central, with guys like Stephenson, Jonathan India, Jose Barrero, and Nick Lodolo leading that charge.

As it turns out, we don’t even get to do that as Cincinnati sports fans this season, either. They’re all out, still, and Tyler will unfortunately get another chance to join their ranks.

Where the Reds turn behind the plate from here, I do not know. Aramis Garcia replaced him today and likely will most days, while Mark Kolozsvary is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster - and he’s only caught two games in the month of June.

They’ll sort it out with someone, I’m sure. Just try not to look at the standings for yet another season while they do.