Opening Day Lineup Still Undecided

Mar 8, 2014; Goodyear, AZ, USA; Cincinnati Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco (39) swings at a pitch against the Chicago Cubs at Goodyear Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price told reporters this morning he is no where near closer to naming a starting lineup for the regular season opener on Monday  against the St. Louis Cardinals  because of the healthy of status of the number one  catcher on the team in Devin Mesoraco.

Mesoraco has a strained left oblique and hasn’t played in two weeks, with opening day approaching it doesn’t look good.  The chances of opening on the 25-man roster are 50/50, and with the next couple of days we will find out if he will start the season with the big club.

“We haven’t made a complete commitment on Mesoraco not being ready,” Price said. “It’s unlikely that he would be, but we haven’t signed off on the fact that he might be ready, at least at some point, to play during the opening series. Today is probably a very important day now for that. There are just a lot of balls still up in the air now.

“I don’t know that we’ll have Devin for Opening Day, but maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Mesoraco resumed hitting in on Monday and felt good according to him,  taking a estimate of about 30 swings. But swinging the bat is only a small part of it, Price said.

“The bottom line is, at some point in time he’s got to play,” Price said. “It’s been 10 days off since his last game now. He’s got to catch, throw, hit, hit live pitching. I mean, that’s a lot to accomplish in a short time. But we have not, as of right now, decided to put him on the disabled list.”

Well with the days of the first game coming up, it looks like Mesoraco will be the seventh player on the team to start the season on the disabled list, possibly, we’ll keep you updated throughout the weekend as we get more information, when it’s available.