Cervelli: ‘Always believe in yourself’
BRADENTON, Fla. — Francisco Cervelli believes there is a moral to his success story of 2015.
“Always believe in yourself,” the Pirates catcher said before a recent spring training workout. “Don’t give up on yourself.”
It would have been easy for Cervelli to give up after spending the first seven seasons of his major league career as a backup with the New York Yankees.
Yet, while Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi always touted Cervelli as capable of being a starter, they bypassed him twice by signing Russell Martin and Brian McCann as free agents.
Finally, the Yankees set Cervelli free following the 2014 season by trading him to the Pirates for left-handed reliever Justin Wilson.
Cervelli then proved Cashman and Girardi right by helping the Pirates to their third straight postseason berth last year. Cervelli played in 130 games — his previous career high was 93 — and batted .295 with seven home runs and a .771 OPS.
He threw out 22 percent of runners who attempted to steal a base. He also stole his pitchers plenty of strikes as he was considered the best pitch framer in the major leagues by various metrics.
Just as important, Cervelli drew high marks from manager Clint Hurdle and pitching coach Ray Searage for how he handled the pitching staff.
“He has the ability to plug into each pitcher and make that pitcher feel like the most important cat in the ballpark,” Hurdle said. “He picked up on our pitchers’ strengths and areas of improvement early on.”
Cervelli gave up counting last season how many times he was told how surprised someone was at his performance.
“I know people were being nice and I appreciated them saying nice things, but I always knew I could do it,” Cervelli said. “I knew in my heart I could be a starting catcher. It was just about getting an opportunity.”
Cervell turns 30 on Sunday and is facing another important year. He is eligible for free agency at the end of the season and the Pirates have backup catcher Chris Stewart under contract possibly through 2018 if they extend his third-year option.
The Pirates will also have top catching prospects at the upper levels of the farm system with Elias Diaz slated to begin the season at Class AAA Indianapolis and Reese McGuire at Class AA Altoona.
While Cervelli reportedly sought a three-year, $39-million contract extension from the Pirates during the offseason, he said the sides have not talked.
However, he would like to stay in Pittsburgh where he quickly became a fan favorite with his outgoing personality, good looks and walkup song of the classic “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin at PNC Park.
“I love the way the fans have treated me,” Cervelli said. “All the contract stuff is out of my hands. I’m just concentrating on getting ready for the new season.”