The Burying of Devin Mesoraco

[Norm Chortleton]

As I have said eleventy billion times in this thread (along with others), Meseraco will win the starting job when his ability to call games improves to the point that he is more valuable than Hanigan; or when Hanigan deteriorates to the point that he is no longer effective, whichever comes first.

Bryan Price reinforced this in an interview question asked by George Grande on Reds Live tonight.

George Grande: We know Ryan Hanigan's been tremendous behind the plate, but Devin Meseraco has made some major strides this year.

Bryan Price: He has. He really has. It's so much with him a confidence thing. It's understanding what pitch to call. What's the strength of the pitcher? Where are the holes with the hitter? What does the situation dictate? Going out there and making calls with confidence ... he's been terrific.

[kaldaniels]

So I would go minimally 50/50 (taking only offensive factors into consideration), likely giving Mes more opportunity to drive that number into his favor.

I'm a 60-65% Mes guy, also looking to increase that.

So I have no qualms with your take. That's all I was looking for.

[Gallen5862]

http://www.rotoworld.com/playernews/mlb/baseball

Ryan Hanigan (wrist) won't be activated from the disabled list on Thursday as originally hoped.
Hanigan overdid it while swinging on Sunday. It doesn't look like a significant setback, as he could return as soon as Friday.
Source: John Fay on Twitter

[smixsell]

I think the time is now for Mes to be installed as our "at least 60% guy." He's proven he can handle the staff, and is really making big strides with this first scrap of consistent playing time that's been thrown to him. Time to really feed the beast, especially while Hanny is clearly not 100%.

[RedTeamGo!]

Redszone may break if Hanigan comes back from injury and gets the majority of starts even though Mez is tearing the cover off the ball.

[reds44]

As I have said eleventy billion times in this thread (along with others), Meseraco will win the starting job when his ability to call games improves to the point that he is more valuable than Hanigan; or when Hanigan deteriorates to the point that he is no longer effective, whichever comes first.

Bryan Price reinforced this in an interview question asked by George Grande on Reds Live tonight.

George Grande: We know Ryan Hanigan's been tremendous behind the plate, but Devin Meseraco has made some major strides this year.

Bryan Price: He has. He really has. It's so much with him a confidence thing. It's understanding what pitch to call. What's the strength of the pitcher? Where are the holes with the hitter? What does the situation dictate? Going out there and making calls with confidence ... he's been terrific.

First of all, you realize Price is talking about Mes there, not Hanigan, right?

Second of all, as Hanigan's .569 OPS shows, he is no longer effective.

[alwaysawarrior]

As I have said eleventy billion times in this thread (along with others), Meseraco will win the starting job when his ability to call games improves to the point that he is more valuable than Hanigan; or when Hanigan deteriorates to the point that he is no longer effective, whichever comes first.

Bryan Price reinforced this in an interview question asked by George Grande on Reds Live tonight.

George Grande: We know Ryan Hanigan's been tremendous behind the plate, but Devin Meseraco has made some major strides this year.

Bryan Price: He has. He really has. It's so much with him a confidence thing. It's understanding what pitch to call. What's the strength of the pitcher? Where are the holes with the hitter? What does the situation dictate? Going out there and making calls with confidence ... he's been terrific.

Cleary the pitching staff hasn't fallen off the face of the earth because Mes is catching them. Is Hanigan better defensively? Probably. Just not enough to make up the difference with the bat.

[Always Red]

First of all, you realize Price is talking about Mes there, not Hanigan, right?

Second of all, as Hanigan's .569 OPS shows, he is no longer effective.

Cleary the pitching staff hasn't fallen off the face of the earth because Mes is catching them. Is Hanigan better defensively? Probably. Just not enough to make up the difference with the bat.

I think it's pretty clear that Mes has some things figured out, both at the plate and behind it. It's refreshing to see the Reds catching position adding to the offense.

To be fair to Hanigan, even though I think his bat is in decline, he has been hurt much of the year, and hasn't had the time to properly heal and they have been rushing him back in to handle the staff.

Mesoraco seems to have the confidence of the staff at this point, and I'd like to see Hanigan rest until he's healed, and then when he does come back, catch about 1/3 of the time.

[Raisor]

Chip just forwarded this to me:


@Jamieblog Nickname Update: I heard some guys in the dugout last homestand call Devin, "Rocko." #Reds





You're welcome world

[Norm Chortleton]

First of all, you realize Price is talking about Mes there, not Hanigan, right?

Second of all, as Hanigan's .569 OPS shows, he is no longer effective.

Duh, of course I know he was talking about Mes. And he pointed out areas where Mes is deficient and is trying to catch up.

[reds44]

So how does him saying Mes has been "terrific" lead you to believe he's not going to have the starting job unless he improves on calling games?

[Norm Chortleton]

In that one answer, Price identified why Mesoraco had not been the starting catcher prior to this year ---> Not always knowing what pitch to call based on the strength of the pitcher, weakness of the batter and the situation. Low confidence.

He said he's been terrific in his improvement this year. Is he improved enough to keep the job when Hanigan returns healthy? I don't know. That's their decision.

Everyone in this thread wants to look at hitting, hitting, hitting. My point all along has been that the evidence shows the Reds don't look at it that way. They are concerned with other things at that position.

[REDREAD]

Time to give Mes the majority of the starts (at least for a trail period), even when Hannigan comes back.

With the Ludwick injury, the team has really lacked RH hitting all year.
Recently, on the hot streak the Reds have been on, they've been getting the RH hitting from Mes, Frasier and Cozart.
At bare mininum, Mez needs to catch 60% of the games. I'd like it to be more than that.
Obviously, it's good to keep Mez fresh, but the guy has had plenty of rest the last 2 years

[Bumstead]

In that one answer, Price identified why Mesoraco had not been the starting catcher prior to this year ---> Not always knowing what pitch to call based on the strength of the pitcher, weakness of the batter and the situation. Low confidence.

He said he's been terrific in his improvement this year. Is he improved enough to keep the job when Hanigan returns healthy? I don't know. That's their decision.

Everyone in this thread wants to look at hitting, hitting, hitting. My point all along has been that the evidence shows the Reds don't look at it that way. They are concerned with other things at that position.

The Reds need hitting more than they need pitching...Hanigan isn't hitting and the pitching has been the same with either catcher behind the plate...What's the rub?

Bum

[Chip R]

I think it's pretty clear that Mes has some things figured out, both at the plate and behind it. It's refreshing to see the Reds catching position adding to the offense.

To be fair to Hanigan, even though I think his bat is in decline, he has been hurt much of the year, and hasn't had the time to properly heal and they have been rushing him back in to handle the staff.

Mesoraco seems to have the confidence of the staff at this point, and I'd like to see Hanigan rest until he's healed, and then when he does come back, catch about 1/3 of the time.

One thing Rocko's detractors need to understand is that this is his 2nd full year in the majors. Not everyone is a finished product once they get through the minors and that goes double for catchers. His supporters need to realize the same thing and putting him out there for 4 out of 5 games from Opening Day on may not have been a good idea. Patience is sometimes a virtue and these things sometimes have a way of working out. With Hanigan on the DL, Rocko has taken this opportunity to show everyone that he is improving defensively and his bat is looking good too. I'll bet even Arroyo is thinking that having Rocko catching him instead of Hanigan isn't going to make too much of a difference. He may be more comfortable with Hanigan but he's pitched well the last two times with Rocko catching him.