“It’ll be spring for me out in Arizona, so I don’t really care,” Mesoraco said.
This spring is the most important one of Mesoraco’s career. The shadow of the past two years is the only one he cares about. A troublesome hip and a torn labrum in his left shoulder limited him to 18 starts at catcher and 22 overall. He wants to come out of that shadow swinging.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
“I’ve tried to look forward as opposed to looking in the past and know that one of these days I’m going to get everything taken care of and be able to be back out there,” he said. “But we’re getting towards the end of that. I fully expect to be ready to go and be back to my normal self.”
Mesoraco was an All-Star in 2014 when he had 25 home runs and 80 RBIs. He says he’s on schedule to be the starting catcher again on opening day after starting catching drills earlier this month.
“I’m doing all kinds of baseball stuff,” he said. “We’re going slow but everything so far’s been very smooth.”
Catchers and pitchers report to Goodyear, Arizona, in 15 days. The World Baseball Classic in March has added five days to spring training, which will only help Mesoraco’s preparation.
“You don’t have to push him at the beginning of camp, you can just let him progress at his own timetable,” Reds assistant general manager Nick Krall said. “And hopefully at the end of camp he’s ready to go.”
Maybe the biggest adjustment for Mesoraco will be a staff full of pitchers he’s never caught. He knows Homer Bailey and Anthony DeSclafani, but after those two he has little to no experience with the staff.
“We have some good young guys who obviously have good stuff,” Mesoraco said. “There’s more young guys coming that have good stuff. Hopefully I can pass on some things that the veterans have passed on to me and help them as much as I can.”
Tucker Barnhart has filled in well for Mesoraco and will be on the opening day roster. The third catcher right now is Stuart Turner, a former third-round pick of the Minnesota Twins with no major-league experience. There has been talk of the Reds acquiring another veteran catcher.
“If something makes sense, we’re always open to it,” Krall said. “But we’re not saying we need this or we need that. We like the guys that are coming in.”
Four-day tour: The north end of the Reds Caravan tour also visited Miami-Hamilton University later in the day. The four points of the tour cover 3,300 miles, 17 stops and five states. It concludes today at 11 a.m. at the Florence Mall in Kentucky.
Dayton was Mesoraco’s only appearance. He was joined by Krall, Reds radio voice Marty Brennaman, outfielder Scott Schebler, minor-league infielder Blake Trahan and former Red Dmitri Young.
Marty's future: The question was posed as to whether the Reds can win another World Series before Brennaman retires. He said he believes that could happen. And he didn't sound like his 44th year would be his last.
“The retirement thing is quite honestly something I’ve thought an awful lot about, and it scares me to death,” he said. “The unknowns in retirement can overwhelm you.”
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