Via Anthony McCarron –
Afterward, [Francisco Cervelli] got several nice compliments from Mike Piazza, Italy’s hitting coach. Piazza praised Cervelli’s enthusiasm, noting that Roy Campanella had once told him when he was young that everyone’s eyes are on the catcher, so you’d better not be dragging back there. “You body language is so important because every fielder and the pitcher sees it,” Piazza said. “His enthusiasm from the start was sky high and he hustled.
“It’s really tough for me to watch him because he’s so talented back there,” Piazza said, adding, “I’m jealous – in a good way, not a bad way. He’s got an amazing arm. He’s got a great future ahead of him. He’s going to get better with the bat, quicker with the bat, so I think he’s got a bright future.”
Watch out Jose Molina…
4 Responses to “Piazza Gives Cervelli Good Grades”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
i hope piazza is right, and that cervelli has a bigtime career. but jose molina doesn’t have anything to worry about. cervelli might be able to do more with the stick right now, but what molina does defensively is on another planet (as other blogs have pointed out recently), which is what you want out of a backup. if posada isn’t healthy, that’s a different story, but i would say jose molina is the best backup catcher in baseball.
March 11th, 2009 at 12:49 am
I’ve always liked Cervelli from watching him down in Trenton. My bet is that he makes the big league team, maybe not this year, but soon, and that he becomes a clubhouse leader. He was impressive in the WBC, and I hope the Yankees take note.
On the other hand, I want him to stay in Trenton, because Scranton is a haul for me to get to, and he’s easy on the eyes.
March 11th, 2009 at 9:14 am
cervelli might be able to do more with the stick right now
=================
Doubtful. Cervelli’s calling card is his D. Offensively, he’s an average and OBP guy with little power, and he has a ways to go. He’s looked overmatched against MLB-quality pitching.
My guess is that he winds up as a good back-up for a good team or a mediocre starter for a back-end team.
May 14th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
[...] just have a feeling that the kid will go on to have a nice major league career – one like Rick Dempsey, at the [...]