Archive for Francisco Cervelli
Girardi on Cervelli: ‘I’m not sure we’re going to have him’
Posted by: | CommentsVia Erik Boland, Joe Girardi indicated to reporters this afternoon that the team is unlikely to have Frankie Cervelli the rest of the way. “I’m not sure we’re going to have him,” said the skipper. Yesterday we heard that Cervelli had been concussion symptom free for three days, but they were still awaiting the results of an ImPACT test. The Yankees don’t absolutely need a backup catcher in the postseason, but it sure seems like Austin Romine would be the front-runner for that job right now.
Cervelli has been concussion symptom free for three days
Posted by: | CommentsVia Peter Botte and Mark Hale, Frankie Cervelli has been without concussion symptoms for three days now. He and the team are waiting for doctors to evaluate the results of an ImPACT test (more on that here) before making any decisions, so it’s still unclear if he’ll be able to return to the field this year. “I pray every day for that,” said Cervelli, who also confirmed that he’ll be going back to the Great Gazoo helmet.
Frankie’s latest concussion opened up a “who would be the backup catcher in the playoffs?” can of worms, but the Yankees might not even need to carry a clearly defined backup in the postseason. Either way, the important thing is that Cervelli gets healthy and doesn’t rush back.
Yankees place Frankie Cervelli on DL
Posted by: | CommentsVia Dan Barbarisi, the Yankees have placed Frankie Cervelli on the 15-day DL with concussion-like symptoms. The DL is irrelevant in September because of the expanded rosters, but this move does give the Yankees another exemption for the playoff roster should they choose to carry someone like Austin Romine or Jesus Montero. Colin Curtis and Reegie Corona serve the same purpose.
More importantly, let’s hope Cervelli gets well soon. The poor guy is working on at least his fourth concussion in the last seven seasons.
The implications of Cervelli’s latest concussion
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(Steve Ruark/Getty Images)
Thanks to various injuries, the Yankees used four different catchers in a span of 24 hours this weekend. On Saturday night, it was Russell Martin starting before Jorge Posada came in as an injury replacement. Sunday afternoon it was Jesus Montero with the starting assignment and Austin Romine doing the defensive replacement thing. Four catchers in two days, and not a single one of them was Frankie Cervelli.
The Yankees regular backup backstop is in New York, where tests confirmed a concussion as the result of a pair of home plate collisions on Thursday. The first collision with Nick Markakis was clearly the more devastating of the two; he led with the shoulder and caught Frankie right in the head. The picture above tells the entire story. Brain injuries and concussions are no joke, especially when we’re talking about multiple occurrences. Cervelli had at least three concussions from 2005-2010, the last one coming when he was hit in the head by pitch in Spring Training last season. This latest incident makes it at least four concussions in seven seasons.
With just 16 games left in the season, there’s a non-zero chance that we won’t see Frankie again until 2012. Head injuries are serious business and the Yankees will take every precaution, just like they have with Cervelli (and Posada) in the past. That leaves the team in a little bit of a bind, because they don’t have an obvious backup catcher to replace the King of the Fist Pumps. Posada caught his first game in almost a year this weekend, and it was only because it was an emergency. Montero was pulled for a defensive replacement, not exactly a ringing endorsement of his catching skills. Romine has fewer than 50 innings of catching experience above Double-A. None are ideal fits.
Thankfully, the schedule kinda helps the Yankees here, because they have such a big lead on a postseason spot and only a handful of games left to play. Montero and Romine can split catching duties for the next week or two and it won’t be that big of a deal, assuming Martin makes it back from his bruised thumb in a somewhat timely fashion. The Yankees shouldn’t rush him back, obviously, but as far as we know, it’s not anything more serious than a bruise and a cracked nail. Going into the postseason, you’d count on Martin catching every inning of every game, no doubt about it. There’s fewer off days this year but still enough to make catching everyday possible. That leaves Cervelli’s now vacant roster spot up in the air.
Barring something unforeseen, Montero figures to make the postseason roster at this point. He’d step right into Frankie’s roster spot, meaning that Cervelli’s latest concussion may have saved Posada’s playoff job. For all intents and purposes, the Yankees have been phasing Jorge out in the second half, but he could still serve as a pinch-hitter against right-handers and an emergency catcher in October. Montero would be the other emergency catcher, even if means losing the DH in a given game. I don’t think it’s out of the question that the Yankees could go into the postseason without a true backup catcher on the roster, which would be kinda neat and unconventional.
The x-factor here is Joe Girardi, who seems to love having a defense-first backup catcher (not that Cervelli was a Gold Glover back there). That could open the door for Romine to win a spot on the postseason bench, meaning the Yankees may end up taking only one of Montero or Posada. That is unless they decide against a pinch-running specialist like Chris Dickerson or Greg Golson. Or perhaps they go with a ten-man pitching staff, which would be a minor miracle. There’s a lot of variables in play here, and there are 16 games left to sort them all out. The key is Martin, if that thumb heals well and he can catch a full workload in October, it opens a lot of roster construction doors for the postseason.
Cervelli headed back to NY, Romine may join team tomorrow
Posted by: | CommentsUpdate (12:22am): Via Bryan Hoch, Cervelli is headed back to New York and is unlikely to rejoin the team on the road trip. It sounds like Austin Romine will join the team tomorrow. If he does, a 40-man roster move will have to be made.
Original Post (6:26pm): Frankie Cervelli stood his ground and was involved in not one, but two collisions at home plate on Thursday, but he hasn’t been in the lineup since. After being a late scratch last night, Cervelli was again scratched from tonight’s starting lineup because of concussion symptoms according to Marc Carig.
Concussions are no joke, so expect Frankie to sit out until he’s 100% ready to go. That means we might see Jesus Montero start a game behind the plate sooner than expected. Joe Girardi spoke about Montero’s unfamiliarity with the pitching staff, but he did catch Ivan Nova in Triple-A last season and has caught Freddy Garcia both in the bullpen and during his rehab assignment a few weeks ago. We’ll see what happens there, but the important thing is that Cervelli gets healthy. The brain is nothing to mess with.
Cervelli, a pattern emerging?
Posted by: | CommentsI believe it was back in August of 2009, that the mainstream media was trying its hardest to blow the rift between AJ Burnett and Jorge Posada way out of proportion. Although the two players both adamantly denied tension or conflict within the clubhouse, the perception was evidently convincing enough that Jose Molina ultimately wound up doing the majority of the catching for Burnett through the remainder of the year. Then in 2010, Cervelli’s name seemingly popped up on the roster each time Burnett was scheduled to pitch. At the time, many of us pondered the effectiveness of such an arrangement.
This year, Yankeeland has been spoiled by some fine defensive work behind the plate, compliments of Russell Martin. More importantly, the pitching staff has evidently built a solid rapport with the former Dodger backstop. Posada, meanwhile, is no longer contributing as a catcher as his responsibilities continue to be reduced. However, as the season continues to progress, Girardi appears to be assigning personal catchers once again. Except this time, CC Sabathia is the benefactor of Cervelli’s catching services.
By my count, Cervelli has been listed as the starting catcher 26 times this season. Of those 26 instances, he’s caught Sabathia 11 times. This represents roughly 42% of Cervelli’s opportunities. Comparatively, he’s caught Colon five times, Nova five times, Hughes one time, Burnett two times, and Garcia two times. Basically, he’s caught Sabathia almost as much as everyone else combined. Of late, Cervelli has caught the big guy in each of his past four outings (and seven of his past eight starts). From June 25th up until yesterday, the only game Cervelli did not catch Sabathia was on July 10th.
Admittedly, some of this is perfectly explainable I believe, through coincidental circumstance of typical season play. Specifically speaking, Phil Hughes missed substantial time on the disabled list which would of course limit the number of opportunities for Frankie. Similarly, Colon was out of action for about a month with a hamstring injury. Additionally, Nova spent some time on the disabled list and then in the minors. It’s reasonable to expect Cervelli to have worked more with Sabathia as he has simply had the most appearances of anyone in the rotation thus far.
Obviously, I’m certainly not Joe Girardi, nor am I privy to all of the details he contemplates when putting together a roster. While I don’t agree with necessarily assigning a catcher – if that is in fact the reality – I do understand (at least to a degree) why he might choose Sabathia as the designated pitcher for such a plan. Unlike in years past when Cervelli was assigned to work with a particular pitcher out of necessity (i.e. conflict between said pitcher and Jorge), this year the entire staff seems to run smoothly with Martin.
Simply put, perhaps the line of thinking is that Cervelli might as well be paired up with the pitcher most likely to mitigate the other team’s offense. With the offensive depth of the Yankees, Cervelli’s lack of production with the bat becomes a little less pronounced when the opposing team isn’t generating a lot of runs. One other possibility of such a relationship could stem from the mere fact that Sabathia is just a very good pitcher who isn’t particularly reliant on a specific catcher.
Yankees were close to trading Cervelli to Pittsburgh
Posted by: | CommentsVia George King, the Yankees were close to trading backup backstop Frankie Cervelli to the Pirates for right-hander Brad Lincoln recently, presumably sometime over the weekend. “It was very close but [we] couldn’t agree on the value of the players,” said King’s source. The move would have freed up a roster spot for Jesus Montero, but alas, we’ll have to wait. Brian Cashman told King that it’s “possible” Montero could join the team before September call-ups, which I guess qualifies as “in the near future.” Adam Warren and George Kontos were also mentioned as “possible” call-up candidates.
Lincoln, 26, was the fourth overall pick in the 2006 draft, but injuries (specifically Tommy John surgery) have hindered his development. His big league career consists of a 5.25 FIP in 58.2 IP, though he’s performed quite well in Triple-A. Baseball America ranked him as the Pirates’ fourth best prospect prior to the 2010 season, saying he “has two plus pitches, a 90-93 mph fastball that reaches 95 with good late life and a curveball that breaks big and late.”
Frankie Cervelli and the backup catcher plight
Posted by: | CommentsEarlier this week, I posted a very unscientific/unofficial poll on Twitter. The question was simple. “If I say ‘Francisco Cervelli,’ the first thought that comes to your mind is….” RAB’s very own Ben Kabak responded with the only (sort of) positive response, “fist pumps” (hurray for enthusiasm!). The rest of the answers were either equal to, or synonymous with, “awful” which is pretty much what one would expect.
All of the candid responses, of course, got me thinking. How does Cervelli actually compare to other backup catchers from around the American League. And, is our collective angst really justified? Note: the stats compiled below do not include the games played since the All-Star break.
Offense:
Click to enlarge!
In terms of offense, clearly Cervelli doesn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence. His walk rate is lower and his strikeout rate higher than the average backup catcher in the AL. Just let that thought resonate on your tongue for a second. He doesn’t particularly hit for power or for contact either. Most importantly, our eyes — which are never biased in the least — tell us he is a supremely gifted rally-killer, right?
Well to be fair, Cervelli’s only had 77 plate appearances which is a pretty nominal sample size. Obviously, his limited exposure at the plate is also by design. Now, I don’t want to come across as an apologist for Franky’s offensive contributions; they are what they are. However, my point here, is that most backup catchers are very mediocre at best (at least offensively), and Cervelli is only marginally below that mark in terms of individual production.
Roughly speaking, all Cervelli would really need is about five more hits than he currently has (20 hits instead of 15, out 70 at bats) and he’d have a .285 batting average with a wOBA hovering around .320 which for all intents and purposes, is right in line with the other backups of the AL East.
In other words, given the typically high octane offensive production being generated by the rest of the team, I think there’s a bit of wiggle room to be found here. No one should expect Cervelli to match Victor’s production, and no one should be surprised when the results are less than stellar given his role on the team.
Defense:
I think one can absolutely make the case though, that a backup catcher should be at the very least, proficient on defense. After all, purely defense-oriented catchers are theoretically a dime a dozen. Much to my chagrin, this aspect of the game is substantially harder to quantify though (especially when it comes to catchers).
If we utilize Fangraph’s FLD metric — which is UZR, or TZR prior to 2002 — Cervelli is definitely trailing his peers. Of course, the only catchers of the group to garner really solid ratings are Tampa Bay’s Kelly Shoppach and Cleveland’s Lou Marson. The rest of the group is average at best. Even former Yankee Jose Molina, who is often raved about defensively, comes across as very average according to the numbers.
The other stat being displayed in the chart above is Caught Stealing Percentage. Now Frankie is obviously doing himself a rather large disservice every time he elects to throw the ball to Curtis Granderson or Brett Gardner when the runners attempt to steal. At this juncture, he’s only successfully stopped two runners out of the 21 attempts. Opposing teams will continue to smell blood, and will continue to test him accordingly until he proves otherwise.
How much of that CS% is related to outside factors; I don’t really know. Some pitchers have naturally slower deliveries. Some pitchers offer less control (I’m looking at you AJ) which can distort the pickoff movement. Hell, some divisions could simply have more quality base runners than others. On the flip side, if someone has a reputation for having an excellent pickoff move, runners will become deterred; if only the best base runners are attempting steals, the percentages can become skewed from that (i.e. – three successful steals out of eight total attempts). Anecdotally speaking, I think Cervelli’s 10% CS rate is unacceptably low though.
Overall WAR:
For quick reference, let’s take a look at the old WAR rankings. It’s a pretty pathetic picture, which I think, is the point. The position is marred by mediocrity and Cervelli is on the lower end of that mediocre spectrum. The larger point though is that the contributions gained or lost with Cervelli are not overly substantial. In my eyes, his job first and foremost, is to simply be available to spell Russell Martin. Secondly, he should provide some decent defense (whether or not he’s doing this is questionable), and any offense is merely gravy. Are these needs being satisfied? Perhaps.
The only guys really raising the averages in the list above are Kelly Shoppach, Victor Martinez, and Mike Napoli. Now, Shoppach and Napoli are not solely backup catchers; they also do some first base work and are occasionally slotted as designated hitters. Frankly, Victor is about as much of a backup catcher as I am; his value obviously stems from his bat which is why he’s given so much exposure at the plate.
Additionally, finding quality starting catchers is seemingly impossible as it is. Finding a second quality one is really just not overly realistic. Perhaps the reason why our attitude about Cervelli is particularly soured is because we have one of the most hyped prospects of recent memory waiting in the pipeline, who supposedly could fill that need. The only problem is, unless, the Yankees are willing to give Montero those additional at bats that would make him valuable, he wouldn’t be overly impacting on the team (I can’t account for the benefit of big league exposure at a developmental level). Granted, it’s absolutely debatable whether or not the Yankees would be able to get Montero sufficient exposure for the remainder of the year, but as of now, it seems they are not intent on doing so.
Mailbag: Cantu, Gordon, Gil, Wilson, Promotions
Posted by: | CommentsI skipped out on the mailbag last Friday because it was a day game, so let’s make up for it today. I’ve got a total of nine questions, so I tried to keep the answers brief. Use the Submit A Tip box in the sidebar anytime you want to ask something.
(Photo Credit: LSUsports.net)
Tucker asks: Just curious, if the Yankees hadn’t signed Rafael Soriano, which pick would they hold and who was taken then?
The Yankees gave the Rays the 31st overall pick, which Tampa used to take LSU center fielder Mikie Mahtook. Keith Law and Baseball America ranked him as the 15th and 21st best prospect before the draft, and he figured to come off the board relatively early as one of the top college hitters available. Mahtook is likely to be a right fielder down the line, but he’s a righty hitter that offers good speed and should hit for averae and decent power. I’m not a huge Mahtook fan, but if the Yankees kept that pick and took him, I’d be thrilled. Huge value.
Bart asks: Do you think the Yankees take a chance on either Kazmir or Cantu now that they’re available?
Kazmir’s unquestionably a minor league contract only guy, no doubt about it, but I’m fairly certain Cantu is completely useless. He’s hit just .212/.287/.367 in his last 670 plate appearances, his defense at first and third is awful, and he’s swinging at more and more pitches out of the strike zone despite seeing fewer and fewer pitches in the zone. I’m surprised to see that he’s still 29, but I’d don’t see anyone on the bench I’d take Cantu over. I’d give anyone a minor league deal, and hey, Triple-A Scranton could use a backup first baseman/third baseman/designated hitter, so he makes sense in that regard. For the big league team though? Not right now.
Ben asks: I was wondering how the Yankees could have had a deal in place with Brian Gordon while he was still property of the Phillies organization. Is this not considered tampering? Is this type of thing okay with minor league free agents that have out-clauses? Just hoping for a clarification.
It’s a permission thing. The Phillies sent a memo to the other 29 teams last week indicating that Gordon had an opt-out and they were not planning to promote him to the bigs, which essentially gives teams permission to negotiate a deal with him and his agent.
(Photo Credit: Flickr user bridgetds via Creative Commons license)
Ryan asks: Would there be any merit to switching Granderson and Gardner in the OF? Other than having a “conventional” power hitting LF and a speedy, OBP oriented CF, would there be any defensive difference with Gardner in CF and Granderson in LF?
Certainly, I think there’s some merit to it. Brett Gardner appears to be the superior defender in terms of jumps and read and pure range based on the eye test, though Curtis Granderson is no slouch in that department. I like how the Yankees have brought Granderson in and have him playing a little shallower this year since his strength is going back on the ball. It’s impossible to trust Gardner’s defensive numbers in center only because his playing time has been sporadic out there, but I think the difference over the course of the season would be five or so runs saved by flip-flopping the two. Not negligible, but not a massive upgrade.
J.R. asks: Now that the season is more than 1/3 over, how would you rate Betances and Banuelos? Both seem to be doing well but walking a ton of guys.
They’ve both been fine, certainly not great but also far from terrible. We’ve know that Dellin Betances‘ control and command were question marks, they always has been, so his hit or miss starts (no walks in one, five in the next) were expected. Command was Manny Banuelos‘ calling card though, and he’s already walked ten more this year than last in 5.1 fewer innings pitched (five fewer batters faced). That’s fine though, remember he just turned 20 in Spring Training and is in Double-A. His age-appropriate level in Low-A right now. They both just need to keep working at it, but remember that Banuelos is still way ahead of the curve.
Conny asks: What’s the scouting report on Jose Gil? He’s having a fine season at Trenton as Romine’s caddy. He looks like he could be a good backup catcher. He seems to have a good throwing arm. He also looks like a capable offensive player, he has a little pop, can steal an occasional base. Is his hitting this season an aberration or has he turned a corner in his development?
It’s more small sample size than anything. He’s hitting .274/.368/.487 in 133 Double-A plate appearances, but it’s also his third straight year spending time at the level. Gil’s always done a good job of throwing attempted basestealers out (34% success rate in his career, which is fantastic), and that’s really I know about his defense right now. The Yankees clearly don’t think he’s going to become anything great because he’s just been a backup catcher that bounces between levels the last few years, filling in whereever a backstop was needed. I want to see more before saying his turned a corner, and a lot more at that.
Sam asks: If you need a stolen base, who would rather be on first? Nunez, Gardner, Martin, Granderson, or Cervelli (he’s veeeeery fast for a catcher, Suzyn)?
Eduardo Nunez and it’s not particularly close right now. For whatever reason Gardner just can’t steal bases anymore, at least not as well as someone with his skill set is supposed to. Granderson’s success rate isn’t all that great this year either, and I’m not going to ask a catcher to steal a base for me. Nunez has stolen eight bags in nine chances this year, and over the last two years his success rate in the minor is 78%. He’s the lesser of several evils right now.
(Photo Credit: Flickr user mjl816 via Creative Commons license)
Justin asks: I’ve heard rumors that C.J. Wilson is looking for A.J. Burnett money, obviously that’s a little steep but if he fell into the Jorge De La Rosa/Ted Lilly range do you think he fits this offseason since there is almost no other decent SP available?
If he falls into that range, which is three years and $35M or so, then I’d certainly want the Yankees to be all over him. I just can’t see it though. Wilson is a) the same age A.J. Burnett and John Lackey where when they hit the market, and b) he’s flat out better now than they were when they were free agents. There’s also the left-handedness to consider and the fact that he’s succeeded in a hitter friendly park. I won’t do it, but I think you can also make a case that Wilson will age better than those two since his arm doesn’t have nearly as many miles on it after spending all those years as a reliever. If he continues to pitch like he is now the rest of the season, I think that five-year, $82.5M contract is a starting point for he and his agent, not a settling point.
Zach asks: At what point in the season can we expect minor league promotions to begin? Who are likely candidates to move up for each level?
Very, very soon, as in this week. The High-A Florida State League played its All-Star Game over the weekend and the Low-A South Atlantic League will get its out of the way early this week, and that’s usually when these things start to happen. As for actual promotions, here’s what I’m guessing will happen…
- 3B/OF Rob Segedin from Low-A Charleston to High-A Tampa
- 3B Rob Lyerly from Tampa to Double-A Trenton
- LHSP Josh Romanski from Tampa to Trenton
- RHRP Chase Whitley from Tampa to Trenton
There will be several more promotions, but those are the only moves I see as absolute no-brainers. Calling up Jesus Montero and promoting Austin Romine from Trenton to Triple-A Scranton would make sense as well, but Romine’s injury threw a big wrench into that. Both J.R. Murphy and Slade Heathcott (currently on the DL) have cooled off after hot starts, but they’ve been in Low-A since for more than a full year now following last season’s early-June promotion. I say promote Murphy but not Heathcott. Slade has really, really cooled off (.209/.261/.287 since May 1st).
Banuelos and Betances are still walking guys and need to work on fastball command, and I don’t see any reason to rush them. Promoting them now just makes the command stuff more difficult since they’ll have to figure it out against tougher competition. And besides, the SWB rotation is pretty full at the moment. Shane Greene (currently at Charleston) and Kyle Roller (Charleston but currently injured) could be in line for promotions as well.
Cashman: We want Montero to play everyday
Posted by: | CommentsBrian Cashman told reporters today that the reason Jesus Montero has not been called up is because he wants him to play everyday rather than serve as Russell Martin‘s backup and get occasional at-bats at DH. “Is Montero better than [Francisco Cervelli]? Yes he is,” said Cashman, continuing his theme of brutal honesty. I can certainly see why they would prefer to do this, but … I mean … how long are they willing to wait for a full-time spot to open up? What if one doesn’t until next season?
