Francisco Cervelli is a defensive catcher mostly known for getting his arm broken when he was bowled over by a member of the Tampa Bay Rays last spring training.
He’s also one of the next in line to get called up if the Yankees need to carry three catchers if Jorge Posada’s shoulder isn’t healthy enough to play over 100 games behind the plate. In that case, it would either be him or journeyman Kevin Cash.
This preseason would have been a great time for Cervelli to make the case that it should be him and not Cash to get the call. Instead, Cervelli went to play in the World Baseball Classic with team Italy and will be absent from the Yankees’ camp for 10 or 11 days.
Perhaps he thought he could impress the Yankees by going up against stiffer competition in the tournament than he would have in camp, but because of the schedule of the WBC, he only got in three games. In those three games he managed only one hit.
So was it really worth it to miss at least 10 days from camp to play in three games that Yankee manager Joe Girardi may not have even seen?
As it turns out, it might not matter. Cervelli got a little bit of exposure around the league, which may be good for him if he feels like he’s ultimately never going to be a Yankee regular.
He also still has time in Yankee camp to get into games. Posada isn’t expected to catch until this Sunday at the earliest, and even when he does start going behind the plate, he’s not likely to play nine full innings. Even with the other catchers in camp, Jose Molina and Cash, Cervelli should still get a decent amount of innings.
It also gave the Yankees an extended look at a pair of top prospects, Jesus Montero and Austine Romine, which they might not have otherwise gotten.
Since it wasn’t a big threat that Italy would go deep into the classic, I don’t think Cervelli did anything wrong. It wouldn’t hurt to see him make up for some missed time though.
Check out Cervelli’s stats here.
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