Devin Mesoraco

Devin Mesoraco
Cincinnati Reds — No. 39
Catcher
Born: June 19, 1988 (1988-06-19) (age 23) Dubois, Pennsylvania
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 3, 2011 for the Cincinnati Reds
Career statistics (through 2011 Season)
Batting average	.180
Home runs	2
Runs batted in	6
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (2011–present)

Devin Douglas Mesoraco (born June 19, 1988 in Dubois, Pennsylvania) is an American Major League Baseball catcher for the Cincinnati Reds.

Early life

Mesoraco was born on June 19, 1988, in Dubois, Pennsylvania. He resides in Lakeland, Florida.

High School

Mesoraco attended Punxsutawney Area High School in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where he was a catcher for the Chucks baseball team. He set school records in walks, runs, hits, doubles, home runs, and stolen bases.^[1] He was named the 2007 Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year. In that same year, he helped the Chucks win the PIAA AAA State Championship. After the Championship, he acquired the nickname, "The Punxsutawney Punisher".

Professional Baseball

Mesoraco playing for the Louisville Bats

Mesoraco was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds with the 15th overall pick of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. He is only the third catcher taken by the Reds with their first pick. He played 40 games for the rookie class Gulf Coast League Reds, hitting .219 in 137 at-bats.

He spent 2008 with the single-A Dayton Dragons. Mesoraco hit .261 with nine homers and 42 RBI in 306 at-bats. He hit a grand slam on July 10 and had a two-homer game on July 21. He also had a four-hit game on August 15.

Mesoraco was invited to big league camp in 2009. However, 2009 was a low point in his career statistically. He hit .228 with eight homers and 37 RBI in 312 at-bats for the single-A advanced Sarasota Reds.

Mesoraco started 2010 with the single-A advanced Lynchburg Hillcats. He hit .355 in 43 games before being promoted to double-A Carolina. He hit .294 in 56 games for the Mudcats, and was again promoted, this time to the triple-A Louisville Bats. He was 12-for-52 in 14 games for the Bats. Mesoraco finished the season with a combined 25 doubles, 26 home runs, and 75 RBI. He earned a trip to the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .242 with two homers and 11 RBI.

Many thought Mesoraco would be added to the 40-man roster following the 2010 season, but the Reds re-signed Ramon Hernandez, and Mesoraco was left off.

Mesoraco is ranked as the third best prospect behind Cuban Pitcher Aroldis Chapman and Shortstop Billy Hamilton^{[disambiguation needed ]} in the Reds organization. He is also ranked by Baseball America as the 64th best prospect in Baseball. Some^[who?] feel this rating is on the conservative side due some of his struggles in previous seasons.

He was added to the 40-man roster, played in the 2011 Major League Baseball Futures Game, and called up as a September call-up for the Reds in 2011.^[2]

References

1. ^ http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=C&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=519023
2. ^ http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110831&content_id=24009888&notebook_id=24012500&vkey=notebook_cin&c_id=cin

• [1] - Devin Mesoraco Stats, Bio on MiLB.com

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Persondata
Name	Mesoraco, Devin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 19, 1988
Place of birth	Dubois, Pennsylvania
Date of death
Place of death