Reds' Devin Mesoraco starts catching drills

KANSAS CITY — Devin Mesoraco said the steps he took in his return from a hip impingement on Tuesday were just baby steps – but at least those steps were forward.

Before Tuesday's game with the Royals, Mesoraco squatted for the first time since the first week of the season. He squatted about 15 times and also made 15 simulated throws to second base.

"I felt fine," Mesoraco said after the short workout. "(There were) definitely no alarms or sirens going off or anything like that."

Mesoraco, who was the designated hitter for Tuesday's game, said he'll likely do similar drills on Wednesday and hopefully catch a bullpen later this week in Cleveland.

"It's going to be very slow, making sure everything is working correctly," Mesoraco said. "We'll try to go step-by-step. Blocking and all that will have to come at some point. It's going to be a slow process and working toward that."

Mesoraco hasn't caught since April 12. Since then he'd made two starts as a designated hitter this season and 13 pinch-hit appearances. The Reds have four more games in American League parks this week and then just two more games with a DH the rest of the season (June 15 and 16 in Detroit).

Reds manager Bryan Price said he hasn't decided whether Mesoraco will DH in all five AL games this week, but said he believes he could do it.

"The day off between the two series is probably a good thing," Price said. "Realistically, if he's getting to the point where he can do some catching things, I would think playing on a regular basis – and I don't know if I'd start him all five games as a DH – I have to feel this is about as good as he can be in his rehab, if he's able to re-engage in catching activity. So hitting and running, to me, is something he should be able to do on a regular basis. I don't have any concerns about overloading him on game activity, especially coming off that White Sox series a week ago."