Mesoraco stays in Cincinnati for MRI as Reds begin 10-game road trip
Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco remained in Cincinnati Monday while the rest of the team traveled to Chicago to open a three-game series against the Cubs that starts a 10-game road trip. It was the most notable of a flurry of transactions and injury items from the Reds.
Mesoraco was scheduled to have a MRI scan Monday with the hopes of discovering why he's suffering discomfort in his left hip. He started the first five games of the season but was out of the starting lineup Sunday in the series finale against St. Louis. He entered the game after Brayan Pena suffered a bruised left shoulder diving into first base on a bunt single in the seventh inning.
Manager Bryan Price told reporters prior to Monday's game that Mesoraco is day-to-day.
"He's not going on the DL and we do anticipate him being back playing soon." said Price, according to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
Mesoraco has gotten off to a rough start offensively. He has just two hits in his first 21 at-bats of the season, with one walk and five strikeouts. It's a stark contrast to last season when he hit safely in each of his first 11 games and had a .541 batting average through his first 10 games. Mesoraco was twice placed on the disabled list last season, once because of a strained oblique and then with a hamstring injury.
Pena is back in the starting lineup Monday. He'll be backed up by Kyle Skipworth, whose contract was purchased from Double-A Pensacola. The Reds also purchased the contract of right-handed pitcher Josh Smith from Triple-A Louisville.
The optioning of Iglesias to Louisville will allow him to continue developing as a starter. Iglesias, signed last year to a seven-year, $27 million contract, pitched mainly as a reliever while in his native Cuba but the Reds projected him as a starter.
He made his first major-league start in his MLB debut Sunday, allowing three runs on five hits, two walks and four strikeouts in a game the Reds lost 7-5 against St. Louis in 11 innings. Iglesias retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced before the Cardinals scored three times off of him in the fifth inning.
Smith has primarily been a starter throughout his professional career, making starts in 105 of his 128 appearances since the Reds selected him in the 21st round of the 2010 draft, but he's likely to be used out of the bullpen while with the Reds. Homer Bailey is expected to come off the disabled list during this road trip and make his season debut. Bailey, who had surgery last September to repair a torn flexor mass in his right forearm, threw 91 pitches over 5 2/3 innings Sunday at Louisville against Toledo in what should be a final tune-up before returning to the rotation.
