Another former Dayton Dragon to make major-league debut for Reds

Credit: MARC PENDLETON / STAFF

Credit: MARC PENDLETON / STAFF

The Reds celebrated Kids Opening Day on Saturday with activities and promotions aimed at the younger set, including a red carpet parade of players outside Great American Ball Park. But with the seemingly never-ending parade of players making major-league debuts, one could argue that almost every day in 2017 is Kids Opening Day.

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The parade continues Sunday with right-handed pitcher Sal Romano being recalled from Triple-A Louisville to start the finale of the four-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers. First pitch is 1:10 p.m.

Romano, 23, will become the sixth Reds player to debut this season – all in less than two weeks. An even dozen players made their major-league debuts with Cincinnati all last season.

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Romano was one of the final cuts in spring training after finishing 0-0 with a 4.02 earned-run average in five appearances, including four starts. He was optioned to Triple-A Louisville on March 28, the day before the Reds broke camp in Goodyear, Ariz., and headed north, and logged a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings over two starts while not earning a decision.

The 6-foot-5, 270-pounder was picked by the Reds in the 23rd round of the June 2011 draft. He pitched for the Dayton Dragons in 2013 and 2014.

'Mes' plan: Manager Bryan Price has a definite plan in mind for catcher Devin Mesoraco as he continues his rehab assignment with Double-A Pensacola.

Mesoraco, a 2014 National League All-Star who’s missed most of the last two seasons with hip and shoulder problems, went into Saturday hitting .211 with a home run and three runs batted in over five games with the Blue Wahoos. He got Friday off after catching nine innings Wednesday and seven Thursday.

“Mes is doing great,” Price said before Saturday’s game. “We talked (Friday) and I’ve been staying in touch with (Pensacola manager Pat) Kelly. He’s doing good and feels great. The plan is for him to go nine (innings), take a day off, than do back-to-back nines and then reassess. That should be completed by Wednesday.

“We had three boxes that we wanted to check off — durability, how he feels behind the plate and how he feels at the plate. When those three boxes are checked off, then we’ll bring him up.”

What about Stu?: Mesoraco's return would create a logjam behind the plate. Tucker Barnhart, who proved himself capable of handling a starter's load last season after hitting .257 with seven homers and 51 RBIs in 115 games, went into Saturday's game hitting .296 in eight games. Backup Stuart Turner, an off-season Rule 5 pickup from Minnesota, was hitting .167 in four games, but the Reds couldn't send him down without either offering him back to the Twins for half of the price for which he was acquired or putting him on waivers.

If there’ve been any talks among decision-makers about what to do with Turner when Mesoraco returns, Price has not been privy to them.

“All I’ll say is we don’t want to lose Stuart Turner,” Price said. “We think he can help us. In a three-catcher system, it’s hard to find playing time for one of them.”

Jackie's day: Players on both teams wore uniforms bearing No. 42 with no names as part of Major League Baseball's annual celebration of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier with his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.

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