Devin Mesoraco is no stranger to major surgeries. His 2015 season fell completely apart when his ailing left hip eventually shut him down, and he ultimately had labrum surgery on June 29th of that year to repair it. Then, his 2016 season fell by the wayside due to a shoulder injury even earlier into the campaign, as he hit the DL for good on May 2nd and had surgery to repair that labrum shortly thereafter.
It appears he can add another labrum repair to his surgery trophy case, as reportedly he had a procedure today to repair the labrum in his right hip, according to the Cincinnati Reds themselves.
Mesoraco today had surgery to repair labrum in his right hip (Dr. Bryan Kelly). Is expected to begin catching drills in mid-, late-January.
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 18, 2016
Do you know of anyone who has had three separate labrums repaired in their lifetimes? Do any of them play baseball? Do any of them happen to play catcher, the single most rigorous position on the baseball diamond?
Do any of them have two years and upwards of $20 million guaranteed to them on a contract at the moment?
I'm lost. I have nary a clue where to begin with this. I went into rather great detail trying to figure that out back in February, and since then Mesoraco has shredded and stitched up two additional labrums (labri?). The would-be stalwart Reds catcher has not hit a home run since the 2014 season, and that stellar breakout campaign now seems so far in the distant past that you can almost remember the Reds winning divisions again. It was enough to make me look up Kal Daniels on Baseball Reference, something that automatically brings baseball tears to my eyes each and every time I land there.
We'll get reports that he's fine, that he's rehabbing and feeling well. We'll hear that he'll be on track to begin Spring Training on time again, and that he looks as good as ever. But at this point, I'm not sure I'll ever hear that and be convinced the Reds think he can be their everyday catcher ever again, and that's an amazingly frustrating thing to admit. On the list of things that could have been for this franchise as we wade through this deep, dark rebuild, this surely leaves us all the saltiest.
Get well soon, Devin. May the force be with your one good labrum.