Zach Buchanan

zbuchanan@enquirer.com

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – It was a vintage Cincinnati Reds scene. Bronson Arroyo was on the mound, and Devin Mesoraco was behind the plate. If not for the group of young hitters who weren’t even born when Arroyo was drafted, it could have easily been mistaken for an intersquad game from 2013.

Arroyo threw one inning against Reds minor-leaguers, and Mesoraco caught an inning and took an at-bat. The next step for both should be a Cactus League debut.

“It was nice to get out there today, because actually throwing against your own hitters is probably a half-step up,” Arroyo said. “Going from throwing in this live BPs to a real game is kind of a full step.”

Arroyo gave up a run and two hits – to Beau Amaral and Gavin LaValley – and got two groundouts. He struck out Angelo Gumbs to end his frame. His fastball velocity was sitting around 83 mph, according to a scout.

Mesoraco caught his first inning, and took his only at-bat to start the bottom of the first. He struck out swinging against Rookie Davis. The catcher still has some final benchmarks to pass before playing in a game, like running the bases and sliding, but the Reds are tentatively scheduling to play in a Cactus League game Sunday.

“Baseball-wise, I felt off, which is probably to be expected,” Mesoraco said. “Health-wise, I felt perfectly fine. I felt very normal. I felt like I could get into position and do everything. It felt really good.”

Get the latest Reds news. Download our app on both the Apple App Store and Google Play.