Francisco Cervelli
New York Yankees — No. 29
Catcher
Born: March 6, 1986 (1986-03-06) (age 23) Valencia, Venezuela
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 18, 2008 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics (through September 16, 2009)
Batting average	.253
Home runs	1
Runs batted in	10
On-base plus slugging	.588
Teams
New York Yankees (2008-present)
Career highlights and awards
2009 World Series champion

Cervelli playing for Italy national team on March 3, 2009, before World Baseball Classic.

Francisco Cervelli (born March 6, 1986, in Valencia, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball catcher for the New York Yankees. He was an international signee by the Yankees in 2003 and played in the 2009 World Baseball Classic for the Italian team. He is a Venezuelan of Italian descent.

[edit] Baseball career

[edit] Venezuela

In Venezuela, Cervelli played shortstop, second base, and sometimes pitched. The Yankees signed him as an international free agent on the stipulation that he would try catching.^[1]

[edit] Minor leagues

Cervelli played in the Dominican Summer League in 2003. He arrived as a switch hitter, but was told to stick batting right-handed.^[1]

After struggling to adjust to professional baseball in 2004 and 2005, Cervelli batted .309 for the Short Season Single-A Staten Island Yankees in 2006. In 2007, he played for the Tampa Yankees, where he batted .279 with an OBP of .387 and two home runs. Baseball America rated him the 23rd-best prospect on the Yankees prior to the 2008 season. He began the 2009 season with the Double-A Trenton Thunder.

[edit] Elliot Johnson controversy

On March 8, 2008, Cervelli fractured his wrist on a controversial play during a spring training game against the Tampa Bay Rays, when Rays infielder Elliot Johnson collided with him at home plate in the ninth inning. Joe Girardi, the Yankees manager said, "I think it was uncalled for, it's spring training and you are going to get people hurt and we got Cervelli hurt."^[2] He didn't return to action until June 2008.

[edit] Major leagues

Following the completion of the 2008 minor league season, Cervelli was called up to the Yankees. He made his major league debut on September 18, 2008, as a defensive replacement. He went 0-5 in his brief time in the majors.

He was called up by the Yankees on May 5, 2009, when Jorge Posada was placed on the 15-day disabled list, though he was batting only .190, with a .266 On-base Percentage and .310 Slugging Percentage at Double-A Trenton at the time of the call-up, and had not played in Triple-A. He made his first major league start on May 7, after Jose Molina injured his quad. He recorded his first major league hit, a single, on May 8, against the Baltimore Orioles, while also catching for pitcher CC Sabathia during a complete game shutout. Cervelli asserted himself as a reliable defensive catcher for the New York Yankees, and has received substantial praise from his teammates.^[3] Though Cervelli was sent to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees on July 8, 2009 when Jose Molina was activated off of the disabled list, Yankees manager Joe Girardi made clear that he was impressed with Cervelli's performance.^[4]

He is one of only a handful of players, including fellow Yankee catcher Jorge Posada, not to wear batting gloves.

On June 24, 2009, Cervelli hit his first major league home run against Kris Medlen of the Atlanta Braves, breaking up a no hitter.

On September 16, 2009, Cervelli had his first walk-off hit--a single in the bottom of the 9th versus the Toronto Blue Jays.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Minor League Stats
• Baseball America