03-01-2016, 06:27 PM
The guy who was by far the best offensive catcher in the major leagues in '14 when his .893 OPS was almost 50 points higher than second place Buster Posey (.854)?
Or the guy who has spent parts of four other seasons in the majors and only posted a paltry .638 OPS (255 points lower than his '14 season)?
Mesoraco only had 384 at bats in '14 when he hit for a .273 average, .359 on base percentage, and .534 slugging percentage. He has a lot moe at bats over the rest of his career (538) when he has just hit .221 with a .288 OB%, and .350 slug%.
My theory is that he is neither that good nor that bad. Mes clearly had some sort of a breakthrough in '14. I don't think steroids or any sort of PED could have helped his batting average that much. But I also don't think he could have sustained that pace for a full season. In fact he slowed down a lot the second half of the year. His numbers last year were terrible but he was injured.
I project him to have a little over 400 at bats with a .255 batting average, .445 slugging percentage, and .325 on base percentage. That would be quite a step down from his '14 numbers, but that .770 OPS would have ranked 5th in the majors among catchers with 400 at bats last year. That is getting some good punch from the catcher position.
Or the guy who has spent parts of four other seasons in the majors and only posted a paltry .638 OPS (255 points lower than his '14 season)?
Mesoraco only had 384 at bats in '14 when he hit for a .273 average, .359 on base percentage, and .534 slugging percentage. He has a lot moe at bats over the rest of his career (538) when he has just hit .221 with a .288 OB%, and .350 slug%.
My theory is that he is neither that good nor that bad. Mes clearly had some sort of a breakthrough in '14. I don't think steroids or any sort of PED could have helped his batting average that much. But I also don't think he could have sustained that pace for a full season. In fact he slowed down a lot the second half of the year. His numbers last year were terrible but he was injured.
I project him to have a little over 400 at bats with a .255 batting average, .445 slugging percentage, and .325 on base percentage. That would be quite a step down from his '14 numbers, but that .770 OPS would have ranked 5th in the majors among catchers with 400 at bats last year. That is getting some good punch from the catcher position.
