Who is the "real" Devin Mesoraco?

[fredtoast]

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.

[CJD]

I think he'll settle in somewhere between .240 and .250. Maybe 20 HR and 60 to 70 RBI per year. I'd like to believe his OBP would be around .300, but we have such a small sample size.

My real concern with Mesoraco is that he will be unable to catch for much longer. He already has suffered hip injuries, which can derail a catcher's career fast.

If he has to give up on catching, his only real potential is at 1B and DH. Maybe LF if he has an exquisite bat, but he probably won't hit that threshold.

I personally think it was stupid to trade away Yasmani Grandal. He hasn't had a great career either so far (including a suspension for PEDs), but it would have been good to have a back up plan. Right now, our closest legitimate catcher in the farm system is Tyler Stephenson, but he is only 19 and very far off from the majors.

We have Barnhart, but he is really nothing special at all. I doubt he's even a replacement level player.

[grampahol]

To bad my grandfather didn't play. They drafted him a gazillion years ago, but he was underage and his folks wanted him to work in their candy store for free.. He was a catcher..

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(03-05-2016, 04:30 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I think he'll settle in somewhere between .240 and .250. Maybe 20 HR and 60 to 70 RBI per year. I'd like to believe his OBP would be around .300, but we have such a small sample size.

My real concern with Mesoraco is that he will be unable to catch for much longer. He already has suffered hip injuries, which can derail a catcher's career fast.

If he has to give up on catching, his only real potential is at 1B and DH. Maybe LF if he has an exquisite bat, but he probably won't hit that threshold.

I personally think it was stupid to trade away Yasmani Grandal. He hasn't had a great career either so far (including a suspension for PEDs), but it would have been good to have a back up plan. Right now, our closest legitimate catcher in the farm system is Tyler Stephenson, but he is only 19 and very far off from the majors.

We have Barnhart, but he is really nothing special at all. I doubt he's even a replacement level player.

What??????  Corky has finally left the building?

[*michaelsean*]

I don't think there is any way to know until the end of this year. His first few years were a kid learning to hit in the majors, and then he has what appears to be a breakout year. 2015 would be the year to see if 2014 was for real, and he is out almost the whole year.