Alex Eisenberg from Baseball-Intellect wanted to share his scouting report on Devin Mesoraco. It is incredibly in depth with his break down. This was part of his Reds Top 15 prospects, where he had Devin Mesoraco rated as the #2 prospect in the system where he gave him a B+ grade. He does great work and I can’t suggest enough how fantastic his breakdowns are. I have been reading his stuff for years now. Anyways, onto the report
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All words below by Alex Eisenberg
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Body Type – Stocky, muscular, and strong build.
Scouting Report
This is what the Reds envisioned when they selected the young slugger with the 15th pick in the 1st round of the 2007 draft.
After three straight truly disappointing seasons, most had written Devon Mesoraco off. But 2010 was a monster season for him. He stormed through three levels of competition, winding up in Louisville — Cincinnati’s Triple-A affiliate — on the cusp of big league baseball.
Let’s first identify the areas where Mesoraco showed the most improvement…
Contact – A fairly significant increase in the amount of contact he made. He struck out in 21.3% of his at bats in 2009 with High-A Sarasota, and that dropped to 16% with High-A Lynchburg and 17.5% with Double-A Carolina in 2010.
Patience – A small improvement if you compare just what he did at the two High-A levels. His walks did fall off slightly in Double-A, however.
BABIP – He’s always had a relatively low BABIP, often times hitting in the 200s. It’s a figure that did improve if you look at just the High-A comparison. But it also regressed on him at the higher levels. I just don’t think hitting for average is his thing. He’s too slow a runner and he puts too many balls in the air.
Batted Ball Data – Mesoraco continued a four year trend of an increasing number of balls put in the air:
GB%
2007 – 52%
2008 – 51%
2009 – 40%
2010 – 35% and 37% — High-A and Double-A respectively.
The line drives have remained mostly constant. However, more fly balls means more home runs and more power, which gets to the most significant change of all…
Power – Mesoraco’s ISO-Power has increased each year since being drafted, but it’s typically been by fairly gradual amounts:
ISO-Power
2007 – .051
2008 – .138
2009 – .153
2010 – .285, .294, and .231 (only in 52 Triple-A at bats)
That is a huge leap in power production, and one wonders how it was accomplished — and the answer is found in his swing.
The Swing
Below you have Mesoraco’s draft video on the left and Mesoraco in 2010 on the right. The angles are slightly different so keep that in mind.
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*Credit to the MLB Scouting Bureau and to RedsMinorLeagues
These are two entirely different types of swings with two entirely different objectives. But before going over the individual changes of Mesoraco’s swin, do note the changes in body type. He’s much more muscular than he was in 2007, and the added strength undoubtedly helps him launch more balls out of the ballpark.
Now onto the changes…
1. The most obvious change is the set up of the hands. The hands are now much, much lower than they were before. The bat angle is also completely changed, now pointing straight up instead of behind him as it is in his draft video.
2. Less noticeable is Mesoraco now has a slightly open stance, while the draft version is pretty much neither open or closed.
2. The stride and loading process — in 2010, Mesoraco reaches out his front leg, closing his stance in the process. However, he doesn’t really pause here — he keeps his body in motion, and he does this by getting up on the toes of his front foot, and allowing his weight to carry forward, subsequently shifting some of the weight from his back to his front side.
Also note how the knee turns slightly inward as the body begins to carry itself forward.
At the same time all this is occurring, the hands are loading. The hands are moved up, while the elbow is loaded horizontally.
Contrast this to what the draft version does. The draft version takes a small leg kick and stride, but his body doesn’t carry itself forward all that much. At the same time, there is only a small loading of the hands, and it fails to produce the kind of power his current loading process does.
The below graphics are the same as the ones above — just moving them down so you don’t have to scroll up…
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*Credit to the MLB Scouting Bureau and to RedsMinorLeagues
3. The swing itself — compare each swing and take note of the instance when the bat takes its first aggressive move forward, notice the position his body is in. The current version’s torso is kept back, and his back shoulder is slightly dipped.
As a result, the swing comes in on an upward trajectory, which explains Mesoraco’s sudden surge in fly balls.
In addition, the hands and hips are turned together on a firm front leg as he lets the ball travel deep into his hitting zone.
The draft version is counter to all this. The hands get in front of the hip rotation and he doesn’t let the ball travel deep into his hitting zone, making contact too early and relying too much on his hands.
We also see a swing trajectory that is extremely linear.
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*Credit to the MLB Scouting Bureau and to RedsMinorLeagues
4. The finish — you can see how the current version’s entire body is being thrust at the point of contact, which is not the case with his draft swing.
And then there is the effort and the intent — in 2010 he looks like he’s trying to kill the ball. The head jerks around a bit from the force of his follow through, the back leg comes off the ground…the intent is tremendous. As is the extension he gets right after contact.
It’s striking how different Mesoraco’s swing is from the time he entered the organization. It’s not often you see somebody overhaul his swing this much and have it work out this well.
Defense
Mesoraco gets mixed reviews behind home plate. He has a tremendous arm and a quick release, which lead to a 41% success rate in throwing out base runners. However, his receiving skills have been called into question. And the number of passed balls he allows reflects that.
Still, I don’t think he’s in any danger of moving off the position.
Best Case Outcome – All Star catcher that is carried more by his bat than his glove.
More Likely Outcome – Above average everyday catcher.
Alex Eisenberg runs the site Baseball-Intellect, where he breaks down prospects using video analysis. He offers a Premium Membership for readers to join and has worked for the Hardball Times, Baseball Digest Daily, and has had work published for the Maple Street Press.