Reds notes: Injury has Mesoraco in Catch-22 situation

PITTSBURGH — Devin Mesoraco is facing a bit of a Catch-22: If he has surgery to repair the impingement in his left hip, he'll miss pretty much the rest of this season.

If he continues to try to rehab the injury without surgery, he might be reduced to pinch-hitting and 10 games as designated hitter when the Reds play interleague road games.

"It's something that down the line, hopefully, is going to get fixed," he said. "At this point, that's not an option because of how much of the season we have left.

"At some point, that's going to come into the picture. It's a four-month type thing, surgery. We're doing everything we can to stop that from happening. We've done PRP (platelet-rich plasma injections). We did cortisone. We did lubricating injections.

"We're trying to do the best we can to go out and finish the season."

It hasn't been easy for Mesoraco.

"It's frustrating," he said. "This isn't what I expected going into the year. You don't ever want to get hurt. But there's nothing you can do about it."

Reds manager Bryan Price said flatly that he's not particularly limited by Mesoraco's narrowed role.

"I'm not hamstrung," Price said. "I'm not hamstrung with it. I haven't felt like I'm short on the bench. I've got a catcher in (Tucker) Barnhart. I've got a guy in Devin that I feel very good about every time he goes to the plate in a pinch-hit opportunity. Then I've got a pretty flexible bench.

"I'd like to have Devin in our lineup, but I certainly don't feel hamstrung."

Price ruled out Mesoraco trying another position until he's able to catch. Mesoraco has never played another position as a professional.

"I'd be painting with a broad brush to be creating an environment to where that'll happen," Price said.

Mesoraco has missed three weeks, and he still can't even test it as far as catching.

"We haven't done any squatting," he said. "We're still trying to work our way up to that. I've been getting some injections here and there and doing everything we can to make it better."

Mesoraco can run and hit, but internal rotation of his leg causes pain.

"That's when it pinches, which is basically my catching position," he said. "We're trying to eliminate as much pain and discomfort as we can."

Mesoraco said he's not surprised by how long the injury has taken to heal.

"It's not a muscle," he said. "It's not something that can be easily fixed."

Mesoraco is looking forward to the weekend series in Chicago against the White Sox when he can DH.

"It will good to be out there," he said. "It's not fun being on the bench and not helping."

"That will help him as far as the hitting and the overall activity," Price said.

COZART HURTING: Zack Cozart's right index finger, which he took a ground ball off of, is good to go.

His left wrist, however, kept him out of the lineup Tuesday. He was hit Sunday by Braves pitcher Julio Teheran.

"I thought it was good Sunday after the X-rays," Cozart said. "But when I woke up, it was tight. I don't think it's going to be a long-term thing. Once the inflammation gets out of there, I should fine."

Kristopher Negron started at shortstop. It was his fourth appearance and second start. Negron came up as a shortstop in the Boston organization.

LINEUP SHAKEUP: Marlon Byrd hit second on Tuesday with Cozart out. The Reds were facing left-hander Jeff Locke. It was the 38th time Byrd hit second in his career, but the first time since July 8, 2010 - when he was with the Chicago Cubs.