TEMPE, Ariz. -- Khal Stephen got a phone call at 5:30 a.m. on July 31 of last season, while he was with the Blue Jays’ Double-A New Hampshire affiliate in Bowie, Md. His next few hours were a whirlwind.
Stephen learned he was being traded to the Guardians, and that it was a 1-for-1 deal for Shane Bieber.
“Obviously it's a cool situation to be in,” said Stephen, who is ranked as the Guardians' No. 7 prospect by MLB Pipeline, of being traded for Bieber. “It's a unique situation to be in. Definitely something that is a big part of my career now. I'm just trying to be positive about it all.”
Stephen will be forever linked to Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner and a longtime staple in Cleveland’s starting rotation. But the 23-year-old is charting his own path as a promising prospect in the Guardians’ farm system.
As Stephen embarks upon his first full season in the Guardians’ organization, he’s excited to continue pushing toward the big leagues, which isn’t that far out of his reach.
“All of us here think about how we're going to get there, what that journey looks like,” Stephen said. “Obviously I feel like this is an exciting year for me.”
Stephen’s journey with the Guardians dates to 2024; they scouted him extensively while he was pitching for Mississippi State and wanted to select him in the MLB Draft. But Toronto ultimately landed him in the second round with the No. 59 overall pick.
Stephen showed why the Guardians were so high on him in ‘25, when he made his pro debut. In 22 games (including 21 starts) he logged a 2.53 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP with 110 strikeouts and just 20 walks over 103 innings. He rose from Single-A to High-A to Double-A over the course of the season.
Stephen was sidelined by a right shoulder impingement when the Guardians acquired him, but he made four starts with Double-A Akron. Though he allowed eight earned runs in 11 1/3 innings, six came in one start in which he recorded just one out.
All things considered, Stephen noted that he enjoyed a smooth transition post-trade.
“A lot of it's just like keeping baseball, baseball, and not trying to feel like you're in a different world,” Stephen said. “It was a lot of moving, but it wasn't a lot of changing who I am or them trying to change me. It was just them being there for me to put my best foot forward.”
Stephen describes himself as a command guy who fills up the strike zone. His mix includes a four-seam fastball, a slider and a splitter. He worked on the splitter during Spring Training last year, as an arm-side alternative to the “poor” changeup he threw in high school and college.
“I feel like it's becoming a weapon for me,” Stephen said.
Stephen was pretty polished when he joined the Guardians. He's listed at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, and his fastball sits around 94-95 mph. Of course, there’s work left to do before he reaches the Majors. He’s working on the shape of his slider to make it a more reliable secondary pitch. The continued progress of his splitter will go a long way toward having the multi-pitch arsenal necessary for a starter.
The Guardians even think Stephen’s heater (which is his best command pitch) could have a bit more velocity in the tank. Overall, there’s a lot to like here.
“He’s a real mature guy that takes his development seriously,” Guardians assistant GM James Harris said. “He had come from a good organization in Toronto. He had played in the SEC. … All those things come together to fit within our development system.
“With pitching, it's so much of a partnership. Players come to the table with what they believe they should work on, and we support a majority of that. Sometimes we make suggestions. But with him, he had already started down that path.”
Stephen still has a few check boxes to reach in his development; he hasn’t pitched in Triple-A yet. But he’s on an upward trajectory and could become the latest success story in the Cleveland Pitching Factory.
Stephen is excited to be part of that developmental pipeline as he pushes to earn his place in the Majors.
“I ultimately want to make it there and stick there and stay there for a long time,” Stephen said. “I'm excited for this season and being able to prove how I'm going to get there and how I'm going to stay there.”