Devin Douglas Mesoraco (born June 19, 1988) is an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach and former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

, who is the current catching coach for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. Mesoraco was an

MLB All-Star The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

in 2014, but saw his career derailed due to multiple injuries.

Early life

Mesoraco was born on June 19, 1988, in

Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania Punxsutawney (; Unami language, Lenape: ' ) is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in southern Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney is known globally for its annual Groundhog Day celebration held each February 2, during which thousands of ...

, the son of Laura and Doug Mesoraco. Mesoraco attended Punxsutawney Area High School in

, where he was a catcher for the Chucks baseball team. He set school records in walks, runs, hits, doubles, home runs and stolen bases. Before his senior year, he committed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. He was named the 2007

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

. In that same year, he helped the Chucks win the PIAA Class AAA State Championship played at Peoples Natural Gas Field, home of the

Altoona Curve The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of the ...

Professional career

Minor leagues

Mesoraco was drafted by the

with the 15th overall pick of the

2007 Major League Baseball Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the f ...

. Mesoraco is widely known by Reds fans as "The Groundhog" from Punxsutawney. 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 GU, Gu, or gu may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Gu (instrument), Chinese drums ** Bangu (drum) () or Gu (), a Chinese "flowerpot" drum * ''Global Underground'', an electronic dance music compilation series Other media * GU Comics, an ...

, hitting .219 in 137 at-bats. He spent 2008 with the single-A

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. In 2 ...

. Mesoraco hit .261 with nine home runs and 42 runs batted in during 306 at-bats. He hit a

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

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 Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

in 2009. However, 2009 was a low point in his career statistically. He hit .228 with eight home runs and 37 runs batted in over 312 at-bats for the single-A advanced

Sarasota Reds The Sarasota Reds were a professional minor league baseball team, located in Sarasota, Florida, as a member of the Florida State League. However team originally started play in Sarasota as the Sarasota White Sox in 1989. They remained in the city ...

. Mesoraco started 2010 with the single-A advanced

Lynchburg Hillcats The Lynchburg Hillcats are a Minor League Baseball team in Lynchburg, Virginia that plays in the Carolina League and is the Single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 2014, the Cincinna ...

. 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 The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, win ...

. 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 runs batted in. He earned a trip to the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

, where he hit .242 with two homers and 11 runs batted in. Many thought Mesoraco would be added to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

following the 2010 season, but the Reds re-signed

Ramón Hernández Ramón José Hernández Marin (; born May 20, 1976) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Oakland Athletics (1999–2003), San Diego Padres (2004–2005), Baltimore Orioles (2006 ...

so Mesoraco was left off. Prior to the 2012 season, Mesoraco was ranked as the top prospect in the Reds organization according to ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

''. That same year, he was also ranked by Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com as the 14th best prospect in baseball. He was added to the

, played in the 2011 Futures Game, and brought up as a

September call-up A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

for the Reds in 2011.

Cincinnati Reds

Mesoraco made his major league debut on September 3, 2011. He appeared in 18 games for the rest of 2011 with a .180 batting average, 2 home runs, and 6 runs batted in. On July 30, 2012, Mesoraco was

ejected Ejection or Eject may refer to: * Ejection (sports), the act of officially removing someone from a game * Eject (''Transformers''), a fictional character from ''The Transformers'' television series * "Eject" (song), 1993 rap rock single by Sense ...

from a game against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

for arguing with umpire

Chad Fairchild Chadwick Jarrett Fairchild (born December 30, 1970) is an American umpire in Major League Baseball. He wore number 75 until the 2014 season, when he changed to number 4 (formerly worn by Tim Tschida). He has worked in one All-Star Game (2013) an ...

. Mesoraco then proceeded to bump the umpire. He returned to the lineup the next night but left during the game due to dizziness from being overheated. He was placed on the 7-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

due to a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

the next day. Mesoraco also received a three-game suspension, which was reduced to two games upon appeal. He played in 54 games of 2012 batting .212 with 5 home runs and 14 runs batted in. In 2013, Mesoraco gained a little more playing time as he played in 103 games batting .238 with 9 home runs and 42 runs batted in. Landing on the disabled list twice in the early part of the 2014 season, as of June 4 Mesoraco was batting .294 but had yet to amass a sufficient number of at-bats to be listed among Major League Baseball's leaders in the category. Mesoraco was named to play for the National League in the 2014 MLB All-Star Game. He finished the season with 25 home runs and 80 runs batted in, playing in 114 games, leading all major league catchers in home runs and slugging percentage. On January 26, 2015, the

and Mesoraco agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $28 million. Later on June 20, Mesoraco announced that he would undergo left hip surgery, causing him to miss the rest of the 2015 season. Limited to 23 games in 2015, Mesoraco batted .275 with 2 runs batted in. Mesoraco again had a short-lived season in 2016 as he played only 16 games with 1 run batted in and a .140 average. On May 6, 2016, Mesoraco opted to have surgery on his left shoulder that was diagnosed with a torn labrum, causing him to miss the rest of the 2016 season. In August 2017 against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

, Mesoraco was hit by a pitch on his left foot from Cubs' starter Jose Quintana, causing him to miss the rest of the season. He played 56 games and batted .213.

New York Mets

On May 8, 2018, the Reds traded Mesoraco with cash considerations to the

for

Matt Harvey Matthew Edward Harvey (born March 27, 1989), nicknamed The Dark Knight, is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, ...

. He became a free agent after the season. He re-signed on February 7, 2019 to a minor league deal. On March 25, 2019 the New York Mets placed Mesoraco on their restricted list after he failed to make their Opening Day roster and he refused to report to his minor league assignment. Mesoraco's agent, B.B. Abbott, later claimed Mesoraco would retire instead of report to Syracuse.

Coaching career

On July 10, 2020, Mesoraco joined the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

coaching staff as a volunteer assistant, working primarily with the catchers, officially ending his playing career.

Personal life

Mesoraco married his longtime fiancée, Kira, on November 15, 2014, at St. Cosmas & Damian church in

Punxsutawney Punxsutawney (; Lenape: ' ) is a borough in southern Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney is known globally for its annual Groundhog Day celebration held each February 2, during which thousands of attendees and international media outl ...

. They welcomed their first child, a son, in August 2017. They reside in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

where Mesoraco is a volunteer coach for the

Pittsburgh Panthers baseball The Pittsburgh Panthers baseball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pitt baseball team competes in the Atlantic Coast Con ...

team.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mesoraco, Devin 1988 births Living people Cincinnati Reds players New York Mets players Gulf Coast Reds players Dayton Dragons players Sarasota Reds players Lynchburg Hillcats players Carolina Mudcats players Louisville Bats players Peoria Saguaros players People from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Pennsylvania National League All-Stars Major League Baseball catchers Pittsburgh Panthers baseball coaches