Turn Off Ads?

View Poll Results: Who will have the better career?

Voters
68. You may not vote on this poll
  • Mesoraco

    49 72.06%
  • Grandal

    19 27.94%
Page 3 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 31 to 45 of 69

Thread: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

  1. #31
    nothing more than a fan Always Red's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Cincy West and WNC
    Posts
    5,558

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    Quote Originally Posted by Redlegs View Post
    Johnny Bench threw out anywhere from 40 to 50% of would be base stealers. Piazza was as low as 14% or so in his career. A great hitter, no doubt. Easily below average defensively. Part of a winning formula is strength up the middle.
    Absolutely.

    Below average, but could still play the position, to the point where, unlike Dunn and Encarnacion, he did not have to go to the AL and be a DH until near the end of his career.

    And if either one of those guys, especially Mez, has a career like Piazza's, no one here will be complaining that he's not throwing enough guys out on the basepaths. It's all relative.
    sorry we're boring


  2. Turn Off Ads?
  3. #32
    Thanks a lot, Bowie Kuhn Revering4Blue's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Valparaiso, Indiana
    Posts
    2,283

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    Quote Originally Posted by Always Red View Post
    Absolutely.

    Below average, but could still play the position, to the point where, unlike Dunn and Encarnacion, he did not have to go to the AL and be a DH until near the end of his career.

    And if either one of those guys, especially Mez, has a career like Piazza's, no one here will be complaining that he's not throwing enough guys out on the basepaths. It's all relative.
    Below average in regards to throwing base runners out. But, IIRC, in regards to other aspects of defense--blocking the plate and preventing passed balls/wild pitches--Piazza fared very well.
    Last edited by Revering4Blue; 07-15-2012 at 08:04 PM.
    Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.

  4. #33
    Moderator RedlegJake's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Saint Joseph, Mo
    Posts
    9,731

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    Yeah I'm one of those old guys who watched Piazza his whole career. He wasn't even close to Berra, Bench or Rodriguez - those comps have to be based on hitting only. Mike was a bad catcher when he came up in the NL. I mean bad. He simply hit too well to keep down and LaSorda stayed with him when a lot of teams would have moved him. Tom's faith was repayed because Piazza became a decent catcher in every aspect of the game except throwing and he was fairly accurate. By his 3rd or 4th year he was adequate - easily better than our own Eddie Taubensee. SO yeah, he stayed at catcher because he was adequate and he played a lot of games there but that's all he ever was - adequate. What he was good at, I think, were things like taking command of a pitching staff, and working with his pitchers. Calling the game etc. and that is why he stayed a catcher.
    Last edited by RedlegJake; 07-15-2012 at 11:15 PM.

  5. #34
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    New York, NY
    Posts
    9,419

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    it's still obviously very early, but a month later, Grandal is having the better season. and he's done it with even less playing time than Mesoraco.

    both are small sample sizes, i acknowledge.

  6. #35
    Member Tom Servo's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Chicago, IL
    Posts
    35,017

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    I'm still not anymore sold on Grandal, but I am concerned about Mes. He's looked fairly hapless at the plate of late. Hopefully it's just rookie struggles.
    “I don’t care,” Votto said of passing his friend and former teammate. “He’s in the past. Bye-bye, Jay.”

  7. #36
    Member kaldaniels's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Posts
    17,848

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    Mes, despite some well hit balls tonight, just doesn't pass the eyeball test at the plate.

    Not that that is worth anything.

  8. #37
    All work and no play..... Vottomatic's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Lebanon
    Posts
    7,067

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    I'm not happy with Mez's bat. But he seems better in his game calling. I see improvement behind the plate. Now he needs to get there standing at the plate.

  9. #38
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    49,393

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    When Mesoraco starts playing 5 times a week, he is going to be better than Grandal is. Until then, Grandal will probably be better because is starting nearly every game.

  10. #39
    Box of Frogs edabbs44's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    NJ
    Posts
    16,358

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    Quote Originally Posted by dougdirt View Post
    When Mesoraco starts playing 5 times a week, he is going to be better than Grandal is. Until then, Grandal will probably be better because is starting nearly every game.
    Chicken or the egg. Until he starts hitting, especially in a playoff chase, he won't be seeing the field 5 times per week.

  11. #40
    Making sense of it all Matt700wlw's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Posts
    26,537

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    I don't think the Reds went into this season expecting a lot offensively from Mes...

    Next year will tell us more.

  12. #41
    All work and no play..... Vottomatic's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Lebanon
    Posts
    7,067

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    Quote Originally Posted by edabbs44 View Post
    Chicken or the egg. Until he starts hitting, especially in a playoff chase, he won't be seeing the field 5 times per week.
    Good point.

    I think this thread should be dug back up in 2 or 3 years. Too small a sample size right now for both players.

  13. #42
    rest in power, king Wonderful Monds's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    11,455

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    I don't have any particularly rational reasons for it, but I'm extremely worried about Mes. Watching him hit, his struggles look like more than just rookie growing pains.

  14. #43
    Member hebroncougar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    2,349
    Not worried one bit. He will be just fine. I really do wish he would have had more consistent playing time, but I can understand how good Hanigan is as well. Good problem to have.

    Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

  15. #44
    All work and no play..... Vottomatic's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Lebanon
    Posts
    7,067

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    Welsh was really praising Hanigan during one of the broadcasts on Saturday. Paraphrasing, saying how underrated he is.

    I've always agreed with that.

  16. #45
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2000
    Location
    Bedford, KY
    Posts
    8,992

    Re: Who will have the better career -- Mesoraco or Grandal?

    Quote Originally Posted by Wonderful Monds View Post
    I don't have any particularly rational reasons for it, but I'm extremely worried about Mes. Watching him hit, his struggles look like more than just rookie growing pains.
    He continues to drop his back shoulder and roll over breaking balls.

    At this point, he's become an extreme mistake hitter with a slow bat. Maybe he improves, but, as is, he's a .230/.280/.400 career backup.

    Grandal, meanwhile, despite not being good yet defensively, is at .290/.340/.550.

    Easy choice so far.


Turn Off Ads?

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please.

Thank you, and most importantly, enjoy yourselves!


RedsZone.com is a privately owned website and is not affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds or Major League Baseball


Contact us: Boss | Gallen5862 | Plus Plus | Powel Crosley | RedlegJake | The Operator