Prospects update

Finally some good news on one of the worst Reds' draft picks of recent years, and perhaps another catching prospect? This is from Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus:

Devin Mesoraco, C, Reds (High-A Lynchburg)
Maybe I'm just in a mood where rebounds are attractive to me, as Mesoraco is one of many in this report. The 2007 first-round pick entered the season with career averages of .240/.311/.368, as scouts wondered whatever happened to that high school backstop with average-to-plus tools across the board. He did himself no favors by getting out of shape, but something seems to be finally clicking, as the 21-year-old Pennsylvania native hit his fifth and sixth home runs over the weekend (his career high is nine), upping his triple-slash lines to .310/.398/.620 while gunning down 42 percent of opposing basestealers. It's too early to officially categorize this as a breakthrough, but it's the first good news about the guy in about three years, and the Reds will take it

Neftali Soto, 3B/1B… C?, Reds (High-A Lynchburg)
Soto got a lot of attention in 2008 while batting .326/.353/.500 for Low-A Dayton, but as a player whose bat comprised the majority of his value, his stock took a huge hit after he put up a 644 OPS last season in the Florida State League. Repeating High-A this year, only this time in the Carolina League, Soto's bat is showing some signs of life, as he went 8-for-13 over the weekend with a pair of bombs, but that's not the interesting part. What's interesting is that on Saturday, he caught, giving him four games at backstop on the season. He's big, thick, and slow like a catcher, and his arm is plus, so it makes sense, and if he can show any ability back there, his value increases dramatically.