Journal · Sports · Oct 20, 2026
What Lief Saw: Trevor Stephan and the Avenue to the Big Leagues
A high school cleanup hitter, a recruiter's eye, and the work that carried him to a major league mound.
Team Avenue Sports Group. Managing Partners Thomari Story-Harden and Ricardo Shepherd-Bey.
April 3, 2021, Detroit. A 25-year-old right-hander, a Rule 5 pick who had to make the Cleveland roster or be sent back, threw his first major league inning: one hit, two strikeouts, no runs.
Eight years earlier, he wasn't really a pitcher.
What the stat sheet said
At Magnolia West High School in Texas, Trevor Stephan was a corner infielder who hit cleanup. He pitched mainly as a closer late in his senior year. On paper: a hitter who could throw a little.
What Lief saw
By Team Avenue's account, longtime Team Avenue coach and recruiter LC "Lief" Smith saw Trevor at a 2013 Perfect Game event and saw a pitcher. Lief helped get him to Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas. We don't claim to know everything Lief saw. We know what came next.
The work
His first season at Hill was rough: 12⅓ innings, a 6.57 ERA. In 2016 he answered with 29 appearances, second-most among NJCAA Division I pitchers, going 8-1 with a 2.88 ERA and 88 strikeouts, and earning NTJCAC All-Conference First Team honors. The Boston Red Sox drafted him in the 18th round. He bet on himself and went to Arkansas instead.
In 2017 he made 16 starts for the Razorbacks: 6-3, 2.87 ERA, 120 strikeouts in 91 innings, and an SEC-leading strikeout rate. He was named SEC Pitcher of the Week. That June the New York Yankees took him in the third round, 92nd overall.
The Show
Cleveland selected him in the December 2020 Rule 5 draft, and he made the Opening Day roster. Over 2021 to 2023 he pitched in 180 major league games: 16-13, a 3.73 ERA and 232 strikeouts. In 2024 he had Tommy John surgery, and he has been working his way back since. His story isn't finished.
The Team Avenue way
Somebody sees you. You get the exposure. You do the work. Since 2009, that's what Team Avenue has tried to put in front of every player. Stories like Trevor's are why we're building Locker Room Connections, a planned TASG series told in the words of the people who lived it.
Thomari Story-Harden, Founder & Managing Partner, Team Avenue Sports Group
Career facts from MLB.com, Baseball-Reference, Arkansas Athletics and NJCAA records. The Team Avenue and LC Smith connection is Team Avenue's account, shared with the approval of Trevor Stephan and LC Smith.
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