Mesoraco's recovery 'slow and steady'

There’s nothing really new with Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco, and at this point, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Mesoraco had hip surgery on June 29 and he said everything is going as expected. Since the surgery, he’s been steadfast in saying he believes he’ll be ready to go for spring training come February.

“Everything’s going just as planned,” Mesoraco said this week. “Slow and steady.”

Mesoraco’s next step is expected to come this coming week when he hopes to be cleared to do some running and agility work.

That will put him right behind teammate Zack Cozart, who had knee surgery in June. Cozart was cleared to run and do agility drills on Wednesday.

Both Mesoraco and Cozart have been in Cincinnati for their rehab work, which means they've spent plenty of time together. Cozart said he’s had fun competing with his friend in the weight room. For Mesoraco, it’s been nice to have company.

“You don’t have a whole ton to look forward to while you’re rehabbing, but that’s definitely a little victory,” Mesoraco said. “It’s been good. We do a lot of the same stuff, with both of us having lower body injuries. It’s been nice to have someone to hang out with.”

The two both picked by the Reds in the 2007 draft and have become good friends over the years.

“I wouldn’t say it works out perfectly — if you had to work out like that, I’m glad Zack is there,” Mesoraco said.

SKINNY: Raisel Iglesias looks to rebound from his three-inning stint in his last outing. It snapped a streak of seven straight quality starts. His last non-quality start before that streak was in a July 27 loss to the Cardinals in St. Louis. He’s started two games against the Cardinals and lost both of them. St. Louis right-hander Michael Wacha is 4-1 with a 1.74 ERA in eight career starts against the Reds. The Reds have scored more than one run against Wacha in just two of his eight starts against them.