Devin Mesoraco available to pinch-hit for Reds

ST. LOUIS — Devin Mesoraco admits he is little worried that his left hip impingement could be a serious, lingering issue. But for now, he's with the Reds in St. Louis, on the roster and available to pinch-hit and run.

Mesoraco, who was not with the team in Chicago, joined the Reds in St. Louis on Friday, taking an early flight there along with fellow catcher Tucker Barnhart, recalled from Triple-A Louisville. Mesoraco had stayed in Cincinnati to be examined by the Reds' team medical director, Timothy Kremchek, and do rehab work at home.

"I'm definitely worried. It's not a pulled muscle or something that you can easily do rehab to fix," Mesoraco said. "Hopefully it's a problem we can calm down and make it bearable to go out there and play. At the end of the day, it's definitely not a good thing."

Mesoraco said his hip had been bothering him for a couple of days, but he was able to play through it, and didn't expect it to be a big deal. On Sunday, he could no longer ignore it. He told Price after the game of the issue.

"I thought it was something that would just go away," Mesoraco said. "On Saturday there, I just figured it would be fine in the morning. I wasn't even thinking when Brayan (Pena) got hurt that this was going to be a problem. But once I got in there, I knew it was going to be."

Because of roster rules, Barnhart couldn't be called up earlier this week without Mesoraco going to the disabled list. Once the 10 days of the start of the season passed, Barnhart could be called up, and he was on Friday.

Price said the team still thinks Mesoraco can help the Reds in the short-term as a pinch-hitter and is holding out hope he can catch again soon. If he does pinch-hit, the Reds would not be able to back-date his DL stint to Monday.

"At this point in time, I have a very hard time knowing what's going to transpire when he catches. Not only does he have to get behind the plate, we have to see how he comes out of the game, how he feels," Price said. "So, it's kind of a Catch-22. In the end, if there's a situation to win the ballgame, and Devin's the best guy we have on the bench, I think it makes sense to utilize him. That's why he's here. If for some reason he had a setback with him, we'd have to go back and if it was a DL situation, we'd have to set him back. But right now, we feel like he's got a shot to play and get back behind the plate again with limited or minimal discomfort. We're still weighing our options."

Mesoraco said he doesn't expect to be able to catch for a couple of days.

"We think a little bit of rest is going to help it calm down a little bit more," Mesoraco said. "I don't think it's going to be fixed within a couple of days here, but it's going to help to the point where it's able to get through. That's why it wasn't a DL thing."

Barnhart, an Indianapolis native, was enjoying some time at home with family with Louisville playing in his hometown for a five-game series concluding Sunday, but he was more than happy to get the call-up.

Barnhart started the season hot in Louisville, with five hits in 16 at-bats (.313), including three doubles.

"I felt like I got off to a good start on both sides of the ball. It's always nice to get off to a hot start. I think I had a double the first game, a couple of 0-fers and a couple of multi-hit games after that. I feel good at the plate, good behind the plate and just hope to keep it rolling."

Price said Barnhart will play while here, something Skipworth did not.

"Tucker's not here just to catch bullpens and warm up guys between innings," Price said. "He's going to play, Brayan will get the lion's share of the playing time, but Tucker's done a fine job. He's ready to catch here and I think he can handle anybody in our rotation and in our bullpen, so I don't have any problems at all with Tucker being behind the plate."