Mesoraco has caught on fast
For a man who had just packed up his entire life leaving the only baseball home he had ever known in the rearview window, Devin Mesoraco was surprisingly not distracted. He walked in and took control of a room full of teammates whose names he couldn’t be asked to know yet.
“He just took over the pitchers’ meeting right away,” Mets pitching coach Dave Eiland said. “He’s done his homework. Every day, he is here (early). He goes over the information we give him, then he goes and watches the video of that day’s starter. He’s prepared and ready and started taking control right away.
“That’s what I want in catchers, to stand in front of them and deliver the information,” Eiland said. “If I have to, I will add something, but I want them to see him up there speaking with conviction. That’s how trust is developed.”
So far, Mesoraco has earned not just the trust of his pitchers, but the Mets faithful in Flushing. In five games since the club acquired him in a trade that sent Matt Harvey to the Reds, Mesoraco has hit two home runs, double what other Met catchers had produced in the first 33 games.
“If he wants to hit a few home runs, we like that too,” Eiland said with a smile, “but so far, he’s been great with the pitchers, which is what I have seen.”
And that is where the Mets may have lucked into a move that could have the biggest impact on this season.
After not making a deal for a veteran catcher last winter, the Mets were going to platoon behind the plate. That blew up after Travis d’Arnaud was knocked out for the season with Tommy John surgery and Kevin Plawecki suffered a hairline fracture of his left hand.
Even relying on Jose Lobaton and Tomas Nido, the Mets had said they were not looking for a catcher, but when they designated Harvey for assignment, they were able to address two needs with the move
“Honestly there wasn’t any reason to not roll the dice, given what we were seeing,” GM Sandy Alderson said about the deal for Mesoraco. “Weren’t getting any real offense, defense was decent but not extraordinary. We had this opportunity, it came together and it made sense to us, not that anything is a certainty by any means; this appeared to be a possible upgrade.
“We went for it as opposed to making a deal for a prospect.” It was unlikely the Mets could have gotten a prospect with as much potential impact in return for the struggling Harvey, who would have become a free agent if they had not dealt him.
Despite the changes in manager, coaching and medical staff this winter, the Mets are already seeing the same old issues.
They have an aging roster that — despite the revamped monitors and procedures — is battling to stay on the field. It is constructed to score on power and when they have sluggers struggling, like Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto, or hurt, like Yoenis Cespedes and Todd Frazier, the Mets have trouble scoring runs.
So they have put a lot of pressure on their pitching to back up their expectations and it has not always held up.
Noah Syndergaard has been fine, but not going deep into games like an ace should. Jacob deGrom has been pretty good when healthy, but managed just one inning in his first start back after coming off the disabled list with a hyperextended right elbow.
Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler have been inconsistent and Jason Vargas — whom the Mets signed to a two-year, $16 million deal — has been awful since beginning the season on the disabled list.
Heading into Friday night’s series-opener against the Diamondbacks at Citi Field, the Mets rotation was 20th in the majors with a 4.51 ERA, 22nd in WHIP (1.36) and 23rd in batting average against (.263).
A2014 All-Star known more for the pop in his bat than handling pitchers, Mesoraco has given the Mets a completely different perception. He has won over the pitching staff and added some power with other big names slumping. If he can take control of this staff, it could potentially be the biggest move the Mets have made all year.