I thought Mesoraco was only 19.
My bad... he turned 20 in June.
I thought Mesoraco was only 19.
My bad... he turned 20 in June.
Last edited by Nasty_Boy; 08-07-2008 at 09:50 AM.
he has shown enough offense for a young catcher, but a lot less than I think the Reds were expecting. The Reds called him their best hitting prospect in last year's draft (over Frazier)Originally Posted by Kingspoint
Mesoraco's holding his own in a pitcher's league one year out of high school in a marginal baseball state. That's just fine.
Kevin Barker is 33 years old and has a .769 OPS in AAA.
I keep wondering when are we going to quit using that as an excuse?
some pretty good baseball played in PA, BMO.
The marginal baseball state is a very valid point for many reasons. One is simply the fact that he has played far fewer games than prospects from southern states. Mesoraco as a hitter is coming along fine, although he has hit a little slump the last few days. Might be getting a little tired in his first full season. Keep in mind, they have had only two catchers there all year, meaning he and Bour are catching every bullpen session in the afternoons, warming up every pitcher during the games, etc. Last night, Mesoraco was warming up a pitcher in the bullpen while he was actually in the game (Dragons were at bat). But the fact remains, he has a long way to go defensively. He had a very costly passed ball in the eleventh inning last night that was a key factor in the loss. He is well into double figures in passed balls on the year.
If you look at the pre-season top 30 prospects list, the guy who maybe has made the biggest jump is Soto (outside of Thompson, who was somehow left off the list completely). Soto certainly has things to work on, but he has to be in the Reds top 5 now. He has a lightning quick bat with tremendous pop. His only clear weakness is that he is a below average runner and when he puts on weight, he will be downright slow. He is not a polished player by a long shot, but he stands out in the Midwest League as one of the top prospects in the league.
That's good to hear about him standing out....I definitely have him in my top three of Reds prospects. BTW I love reading your observations.
As far as Soto, you see the ability. He needs to keep improving. Last night, in one at-bat, he swung and missed at three sliders, none of which were within a foot of the plate. But later in the game, he drilled a double that tied the game. This is a player who is going to put up very good numbers in the minors and fans on these boards will be screaming to move him up, but the problem is, he still needs to learn to play the game. He plays young, makes mistakes that young players make, things that don't show up in the stats but will hurt you. You see tremendous raw ability but you see a player that needs to learn to play the game. That's the problem with trying to judge players on stats alone. It doesn't work. Frazier and Soto are an interesting comparison because Frazier is so polished and plays so precisely, while Soto might actually have more natural ability.
at some point, it's not.
Frazier's from a marginal baseball state as well. How'd he get so polished and learn to play so precisely, as you say? Tom's River is a GREAT program in NJ, but it's still NJ
Last edited by princeton; 08-07-2008 at 05:57 PM.
Griff's from PA/OH, for what its worth, so he couldn't play all year round
...college?
Frazier came out of a youth program that won the Little League World Series. He also played at a Division I college program. Mesoraco is 15 months out of high school.
there you go-- so there is SOME time at which we can quit blaming PA, correct?
couple more years?
in his sixth year as a major leaguer?
upon his retirement?
who carres what his age is , hes got a bunch of homers. nobody cares bout oops or wutever that is cuz its not improtant , only homeruns are wut counts
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