Mesoraco put on 15-day DL

Published 2:07 am Tuesday, May 26, 2015

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Reds put catcher Devin Mesoraco on the 15-day disabled list Monday with a sore left hip that limited him to pinch hitting and filling in as an interleague DH for the past six weeks.

They’d been hoping that Mesoraco — an All-Star last season — could get better without going on the DL. The hip bothered him when he went through catching drills over the weekend, prompting the move.

Mesoraco hasn’t caught in a game since April 12. In the last six weeks, he’s been limited to 13 pinch-hit appearances and four games at DH while he got treatment on the hip. Mesoraco batted .178 with no homers and two RBIs.

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“He’s capable of hitting, but the catching drills did not go well in the sense that he came out of them with some stiffness and soreness,” manager Bryan Price said. “We’d hoped that would be alleviated through his rehab, and it wasn’t.”

The Reds reinstated left-handed reliever Manny Parra from the disabled list. He’s 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA in seven appearances. Parra has been sidelined since April 29 by a strained neck.

Also, starter Johnny Cueto got his stiff right elbow examined on Monday. Cueto, who won 20 games last season, had to miss a starter over the weekend in Cleveland because of the elbow, which was still bothering him on Monday.

“He hasn’t had total relief, and I’d have thought by now he would,” Price said.

Cueto is in the final year on his contract. The Reds had lost eight games in a row heading into a series against Colorado on Monday and would consider trading him at midseason if they’re still far out of the race.

Left-handed reliever Sean Marshall was in the clubhouse on Monday and said he could start throwing again in about six weeks. Marshall was scheduled to have major shoulder surgery last week, but doctors found no significant injury when they looked inside.

They cleaned out scar tissue and told him he might be able to pitch again this season. Originally, he was thinking his season — and maybe even his career — were over. Marshall also is in the final year of his contract.

“For a guy who was looking at six months (to recover), that’s epic,” Marshall said. “It was mind-boggling. I couldn’t have been more happy about the results.”

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