Cincinnati Reds 2015 Grades: Devin Mesoraco

Coming into 2015, the Cincinnati Reds had high hopes for Devin Mesoraco, and with good reason. In 2014, Mesoraco was an All-Star catcher who batted .273/.359/.534 with a 4.8 WAR and appeared to be one of the brightest stars in Cincinnati. But in 2015, everything fell apart, and Mesoraco barely had a season at all.

Plagued by a hip impingement that effectively eliminated his catching abilities, Mesoraco was only able to start six games in 2015 as the Reds’ catcher. Unfazed by an injury that clearly inhibited their star catcher from playing, the Reds stubbornly trotted out Mesoraco anyway. After a brief absence from the Reds lineup, Mesoraco returned in late April in pinch-hit situations, and later as their designated hitter in interleague games.

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In a total of 28 plate appearances as a PH/DH, Mesoraco collected only six hits, with one double, one triple and no home runs. Not only was catching beyond Mesoraco at this point because of his hip injury, but so was hitting; and on May 20, he made his last appearance of the year with the Reds as their DH against the Kansas City Royals. He went 0-for-4.

But the Reds organization wasn’t ready to concede 2015 as a lost season for Mesoraco yet. In June, Mesoraco was sent down to the Triple-A Louisville Bats to see if their All-Star catcher could make a transition to left field. With the Bats, Mesoraco played three games, had seven at-bats and had only one hit, and made one putout as an outfielder.

During his third game with the Bats, Mesoraco was pulled from the game early and was finally shut down for the season.

On June 29th, Mesoraco successfully underwent hip impingement surgery that ended his season.

Mesoraco said he didn’t believe the season ending surgery would affect how he would perform in 2016, saying, “I’ll be perfectly fine. I expect to be able to start my off-season workouts the same time I would, beginning of November. I expect to start my catching and everything the beginning of January, the same time I normally would. This certainly hasn’t messed up the timing for next year at all.”

So after all that, what grade did Mesoraco earn for 2015? It’s a season that’s really hard to grade Mesoraco on. Yes, all the numbers would indicate that this was an abysmal season, and it certainly was, but considering the injuries, it’s really hard to give Mesoraco a failing grade. With any luck, Mesoraco will return to his 2014 form for the Reds next year and we can all put this terrible season behind us.

Grade: Incomplete