BRONX, NY – Last season, there was a belief out there that when Jorge Posada missed most of the 2008 season with a shoulder injury, requiring surgery, the Yankees season went along with it.
This past May, when Posada headed back to the disabled list for a month with a hamstring injury, the Yankees appeared to have once again suffered another blow.
The team called up Francisco Cervelli out of desperation, not because they saw anything special. Backup Jose Molina several games later also landed on the DL along with Posada and all that was left was third stringer Kevin Cash and Cervelli, being called up from Double-A Trenton.
Before the Yankees called him up on May 6, his only notoriety came in a spring training game last season when he was run over by a Tampa Bay Rays player at home plate, injuring his arm and sidelining him for several months.
He was hitting .190 while in Trenton, so he certainly was not tearing up the league. However, he was needed as insurance because the team had no other options.
Working behind the plate in his second career start in a start made by C.C Sabathia at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Cervelli guided the lefty through his dominant complete game, four-hit shut out in the Yankees 4-0 win.
During the game, you could see his defense behind the plate in the way was able to block balls in the dirt, his framing of pitches to steal several strikes from the home plate umpire, along with his overall confidence in the pitches he was calling.
The duo was in sync the entire night and embraced in a hug after the victory.
Cervelli had embraced himself to Sabathia.
As it turned out, the pitching staff and the team would come to embrace him.
The one thing that he was given great credit for was his defense in the minors, and that would have been all the Yankees would have asked for upon arrival. What they did not know is he proving to be not a black hole in the lineup and has shown ability at the plate and on the bases.
Since arriving, Cervelli is hitting .298 (17 for 57) with six RBI’s. He has shown an ability to handle the bat and lay sacrifices down and on the base paths, blows by Posada in terms of running.
Cervelli’s best offensive day of the season came on Sunday against the Mets, going 3 for 5, including two hits off their ace, Johan Santana. Prior to that, he came up with (at the time) a big run-scoring double on a hit-and-run play in the Yankees eventual 4-3 loss to the Red Sox.
The team did not miss a beat in Posada’s absence as they played their best baseball of the season with Cervelli catching a bulk load of the games and even becoming a fan favorite.
When Posada regained his catching position in a weekend series in Cleveland, many wondered how the dynamic of Posada behind the plate would change. It was clear that most of the staff had established a good rapport with the rookie and the team was rolling. It has long been reported that several pitchers have problems catching the veteran, thus needing their own “personal catcher” in order to alleviate problems.
This came even more to light after Sunday’s game when starter AJ Burnett went out of his way to praise Cervelli for his game calling behind the plate that help him pitch seven innings of four hit, shutout ball in the 15-0 thrashing of the Mets.
Problem was it came on the heels of Joba Chamberlain’s 100-pitch, four inning disaster on Friday night that saw him and Posada in constant disagreement on pitch selection. This continued to add more validity to some of the pitchers inability to work with Posada and their continued praise for Cervelli.
With Jose Molina set to return in two weeks, the Yankees have an issue.
Do they bring back the veteran Molina, who is older, slower, cannot hit, and yet has a great throwing arm and game calling skills?
Or do they keep Cervelli on the roster, who is younger, faster, can hit a little, and is superb defensively?
The answer is unknown as of now. Perhaps allowing him to catch everyday in Triple-A rather then once or twice a week will help his development. However, Cervelli has provided great, youthful energy.
When they called him up, the team never thought he would force the team into making a very difficult decision.
That is a testament to Cervelli making the most of the chance given.
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