No, the Cincinnati Reds did not. Not getting a better catching option than Rob Brantly as insurance for Devin Mesoraco and Tucker Barnhart leaves the Reds vulnerable both offensively and on their pitching staff. They really needed to solidify the catching situation and have several extra catchers in camp.
Barnhart is an underrated catcher, overall, but he has proven himself unready to be an everyday catcher. Most alarming for Reds’ fans is his CERA from last year. That’s the ERA of the pitchers when Barnhart was behind the plate.
Not only did Barnhart have the highest CERA in all of baseball last year for a regular, but he had a positive differential.