Devin Mesoraco

Devin Douglas Mesoraco

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 200 lb.
• High School Punxsutawney Area High School
• Debut September 3, 2011
• Final Game September 29, 2018

• Born June 19, 1988 in Punxsutawney, PA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Devin Mesoraco was a first-round draft pick in the 2007 amateur draft.

Mesoraco hit .429/.629/.857 as a high school senior to help Punxsutawney to a Pennsylvania Class 3A title. USA Today named him as the catcher on their All-USA high school baseball team. He rose rapidly in projections for the 2007 amateur draft, leading to dispute over whether he was finally being discovered or whether he was the subject of speculation driving up his value. Mesoraco was picked by the Cincinnati Reds with the 15th pick of the draft and signed by scout Jeff Brookens. Assigned to the GCL Reds, he debuted on June 26, going 1 for 4 with a double.

On August 1, 2012, Devin was suspended for three games by Major League Baseball and fined an undisclosed amount for making contact with umpire Chad Fairchild during a game on July 30th. At the same time, the Reds placed him on the disabled list for a concussion, the result of a home plate collision with the San Diego Padres' Cameron Maybin in the 2nd inning of that same game; he remained in the game but was then ejected by Fairchild in the 3rd for arguing balls and strikes, leading to the incident. He then had to leave the next day's game in the 6th with what was at first called heat exhaustion, but were in facts symptoms of the previous day's concussion. He played 54 games for the Reds that year, hitting .212 with 5 homers and 14 RBIs. His first season as a regular was in 2013, when he played 103 games and hit .238 with 9 homers and 42 RBIs. However, he did not start the National League Wild Card Game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on October 1st, giving way to Ryan Hanigan, who went 0 for 3 in the loss; he entered the game in a double switch in the 7th inning and made an out in his only plate appearance.

Mesoraco had a break-out season in 2014, as he played 114 games as the Reds' starting catcher, hitting .273 with 25 homers and 80 RBIs. He was named to the All-Star team for the first time. However, he suffered a concussion in spring training in 2015 when hit in the mask by a foul tip, his third concussion as a professional catcher, although it was described as milder than the two previous ones. However, because of a hip injury that required surgery in late June, he ended up playing only 23 games, with only 6 behind the plate, hitting .178 with no homers and 2 RBIs in what was a lost season. Injuries hit him again in 2016 as he suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder at the start of the season and as a result he was facing season-ending surgery. He was hitting only .140 in 16 games, with no homers and a single RBI. His last appearance had come on April 27th. If that wasn't enough, he had to undergo another surgery, this time on his right hip, in mid-July, pushing back his return even further, beyond the start of the 2017 season.

he played 56 games for the Reds in 2017, acting as a back-up for Tucker Barnhart who had taken over the catching job in his absence and as emerged as one of the premier defenders in the majors at the position, winning the Gold Glove that season. For his part, Devin hit .213 with 6 homers and 14 RBIs. He returned to the Reds in 2018 but continued to find it hard to obtain playing time, going 9 for 41 (.2180 in 18 games over the first six weeks of the season, On May 8th, he caught a career break as he was dealt to the New York Mets in return for disgraced P Matt Harvey. That opened up an immediate opportunity to play, given that both Mets catchers at the start of the season, Travis d'Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki, were injured, with d'Arnaud gone for the season. The Mets had been making do with a substandard tandem of Tomas Nido and Jose Lobaton for the past couple of weeks and were struggling as a result. In 66 games for New York, he hit .222 with 10 homers and 30 RBIs, helping to plug the gaping hole behind the plate. However, after the Mets had signed free agent Wilson Ramos to be starter in 2019, he failed to win the back-up job from d'Arnaud and then refused a assignment to AAA. The Mets placed him on the restricted list.

He became a coach with the University of Pittsburgh in 2021.

Sources: USA Today from 6/28/07, MILB.com

Notable Achievements

• NL All-Star (2014)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2014)

Related Sites

• Devin Mesoraco on mlb.com