Despite suffering from his usual bad luck injuries, Francisco Cervelli had his best season to date.
Grade: A-
2014 Statistics: .301/.370/.432, 2 HR, 128 wRC+, 1.3 fWAR
2015 Contract Status: Arbitration eligible
This season started much like any other for Francisco Cervelli, who seems to have none of the luck when it comes to injuries. They aren't reoccurring injuries, either. Aside from the concussions, which are basically part of the job as catcher, most of Cervelli's injuries have been flukes. In 2011, he broke his foot. Last year it was a broken hand, then his PED suspension, before he ended the season on the DL with a sore elbow. This season he made it a whole two weeks into April before he strained his right hamstring and ended up spending over two months on the DL. However, when he finally got healthy he actually ended up having the best season of his career.
After returning towards the end of June, Cervelli went on to have a particularly impressive July where he hit .333/.382/.510 and put together a nine-game hitting streak. He even had three games this season in which he hit two doubles. Although he ended up missing time in September after suffering from a series of migraines that were determined to be unrelated to concussions, Cervelli ended the season strong, collecting seven hits through his last 19 at-bats. Granted that he only played in 49 games total, but the closest he had ever come to his 2014 slash line before, when he played in 40 or more games, was back in 2011 when he hit .266/.324/.395. On a negative note, his strikeout percentage rose quite a bit this season, all the way up to 25.3%, with his career average being 17.2%.
Cervelli also had a decent year defensively. Behind the plate, his caught stealing percentage was 25, where the league average was 27. For the sake of comparison, Brian McCann's CS% was 37. Cervelli was charged with 2 passed balls through 348 innings, along with 18 stolen bases. Since the Yankees insisted on not having a real backup at first base for Mark Teixeira, Cervelli got to learn the position this year. He played forty innings at first base, where he didn't seem to have a problem (he wasn't charged with any errors, at least).
Considering the presence of five catchers on the forty-man roster, one (or more) of them seems destined to be moved during the offseason. Since he had a good season with the bat, the Yankees might want to see what they can get for Cervelli. He also might have proved that he is worth keeping around if he can stay healthy. The most games that he's ever played in the majors was 93 back in 2010, and it would be great to see him play a full season if he's going to stick around.