BOSTON — The Yankees love the way Francisco Cervelli catches a game, and now he’s handling the bat as well as he’s handling the pitching staff.
Cervelli picked up a career-high five RBIs and three hits in the 14-3 clubbing of the Red Sox yesterday at Fenway Park.
He’s hitting .429 and, with Jorge Posada troubled by a calf injury, Cervelli has saved the day.
You have to go all the way back to Yogi Berra on July 3, 1957 to find a Yankees catcher with at least five RBIs in a game against the Red Sox.
Mark Teixeira was the big hitter with three home runs, but Cervelli, who was making his fourth straight start, more than did his part.
“This guy is impressing me more and more every day,” Teixeira said.
Color Joe Girardi impressed, too.
“It would be hard to complain about anything right now,” Girardi said. “He’s hitting over .400, he’s catching well, he’s blocking the ball well, he’s framing the ball well and he’s throwing people out. It’s kind of hard to complain. I guess he could hit .500.”
Posada said he is fine to catch again. He should be back in the lineup tonight, but Cervelli’s success creates options for Girardi. He could decide to use Posada more in the designated hitter role and use Cervelli behind the plate. Girardi said he will use a rotating DH with Nick Johnson out with a wrist injury, but putting Posada at DH and Cervelli behind the plate works.
“I love to play every day,” Cervelli said. “Every time I get a chance I try to do this again. My game is energy. I never look at my average. I don’t care about numbers. I’m happy because we win, that’s it. But if I hit .500 that would be good for my career.”
Yes it would.
He’s on the roster, though, more for the way he guides the pitching staff.
“He communicates well, we talk a lot on the bench and I think that helps out,” CC Sabathia said. “He knows the flow of the game. He’s really vocal and has a lot of energy. To be able to have a guy like that behind the plate is huge for us right now.”