Mes: Rookie Season Part II

[M2]

All right, we all know 2012 did not go anywhere near as planned for Devin Mesoraco. Now he gets to try it again in 2013. Sounds like he's been working his hump off to make sure this is a better season:

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/...s_cin&c_id=cin

You can assess abilities and stats all you like, but a pathological drive to succeed is a pretty powerful asset for a young ballplayer. All the projections folks out there seem to think Mes will break through this season: http://www.redszone.com/forums/showp...58&postcount=1

So are you buying it? Because if this kid establishes himself as a quality player, the Reds are going to be a very tough team to beat.

[Superdude]

I love Hanigan, but Mez turning heads out of the gates and putting up the kind of season he's capable of would be big. I'm interested to see how willing Dusty & Co. are to give him that opportunity considering how much the pitchers have fallen in love with Hanigan.

[TOBTTReds]

"I missed a lot of strikes for the pitchers because I was just in a bad position. My butt was up too high and I just wasn't in a comfortable position where I could receive well. That was another reason to lose all the weight. I wanted to be flexible in my lower half. It's always been strong, but I can get too much bulk where I'm not as flexible as I'd like."

This was the most disappointing thing for me...I thought his catching/receiving was so poor. Yes, he has a great arm, but his footwork and receiving was just so bad. I didn't really expect that from him.

I'm a big fan of his though, and I hope he comes out guns-a-blazin this year. I'd love to see him catching 3 of 5 games instead of just 2 or even one. As of now, I'd say there is no way he is catching Chapman, and Dusty is probably set on Hanigan catching Cueto and probably Latos (considering he improved with Hanigan, although his entire career has been marked with similar improvement later in the year).

[_Sir_Charles_]

This was the most disappointing thing for me...I thought his catching/receiving was so poor. Yes, he has a great arm, but his footwork and receiving was just so bad. I didn't really expect that from him.

I'm a big fan of his though, and I hope he comes out guns-a-blazin this year. I'd love to see him catching 3 of 5 games instead of just 2 or even one. As of now, I'd say there is no way he is catching Chapman, and Dusty is probably set on Hanigan catching Cueto and probably Latos (considering he improved with Hanigan, although his entire career has been marked with similar improvement later in the year).

Agreed. I was not concerned about his hitting AT ALL. I couldn't have cared less. For me, it was him being solid defensively and learning the pitchers. I understand Bronson wanting a specific catcher...but I really would've preferred a more balanced mix in regards to who Mes/Hanny caught. Devin needs to learn the intricacies of ALL of the starters. IMO that's STILL job #1 in season 2. Simply because Dusty & co. failed in that respect. Spread the wealth!

[Vottomatic]

Where's Doug? This is a topic he'll love.

[RedsManRick]

When it comes to his bat, I'm not worried in the least. He walked a good amount (9.2%) and didn't strike out a ton (17.9%). Yeah, the LD% was low and that showed up in both his ISO and BABIP. But given that he's a catcher who's mostly likely more worried about his glove than his bat, all I want to see right now are some core skills and he showed those.

[dougdirt]

Mesoraco may believe he should have gotten more strike calls for his pitchers, but he was still above league average in that department.

I don't think he breaks out this year because he won't get the chance. He will once again be catching 2-3 times a week depending on how the rotation goes.

[lidspinner]

Mesoraco may believe he should have gotten more strike calls for his pitchers, but he was still above league average in that department.

I don't think he breaks out this year because he won't get the chance. He will once again be catching 2-3 times a week depending on how the rotation goes.

I gotta agree 100%.....no way in hades does dusty allow Mes to catch more than 5 games in a 10 game stretch and I think that is the upper part of what he will see.....more like 3-4 in a 10 game stretch.....I am not so sure that is a knock in Mes as much as it is a feather in the cap of Hanny....Hannigan has really become a guy that pitcher just love to pitch to and now we are seeing Hanny really become a hitter....his average is not where I would like it but you rarely see him go up there swinging at balls....his ability to hit backside and not give the opposing 2 weak links in a row to pitch to is what will keep Hanny out there over mes.......now is mes comes in and knocks the cover off the ball in his rare starts then maybe by mid season Dusty will have no choice but to play him more...or an injury.....but without those 2 things happening Mes will be once again a benchwarmer and day game filler for our Rotation.

[mdccclxix]

I love how strong he is and how hard he kills the ball. It's scary if he could start making quality contact. Just watch a few of his highlights from last year. The ball screams off his bat.

[cincrazy]

His swing is simply too long. Honestly, some guys just don't produce in the majors like we think they should. I was hard on Hanigan going into last year, and believed Mes should get more time. But you know what? Hanigan is pretty damn good. He's gold with the pitchers, has a great OBP, and is great at throwing out runners. What more could you ask for? The only thing Mes has on him is raw power, and we don't even know if he can translate that to the actual games. We won 97 games last year with Hanigan starting most days and Mes seeing little time. Hard to complain about the results.

[M2]

If Mes gets his bat going, he'll get plenty of work. Dusty likes winning.

[Caveat Emperor]

It seems like Mes always craps the bed a little bit in his first go-around at any level and then puts everything together in the follow-up campaign.

[jojo]

I think the Reds were smart not to trade Mes. I'd be perfectly happy with him disappointing us all and only becoming Matt Wieters.

[M2]

I think the Reds were smart not to trade Mes. I'd be perfectly happy with him disappointing us all and only becoming Matt Wieters.

I'd be cool with that too, but Mes needs to improve a ton on defense to get to Wieters level.

[RFS62]

If Mes gets his bat going, he'll get plenty of work. Dusty likes winning.

This.