New Pirates Catcher Francisco Cervelli Can't Change The Past, Can Only Look Forward
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) - Injuries have beset Francisco Cervelli in a big way, for a long time. He hasn't caught more than 49 games since the 2010 season, when he caught a career-high 93.
Last year, running down the first base line in the fourth inning of an April 13 game against Boston landed Cervelli on the 60-day Disabled List with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain.
That was just the latest injury what has been a long string of disastrous luck.
In early 2013, a foul tip fractured his right hand in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays and cost him his season.
Also that year, Cervelli was linked to Biogenesis for a 2011 trip he made to see convicted distributor Anthony Bosch in Miami, Florida. Cervelli was hoping to come back quicker from a broken foot suffered earlier in the year.
He was subsequently suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball.
"You realize that everything is a learning process and that was the way I had to learn. Perhaps, in the past, I wasn't prepared to play a lot of games," Cervelli said of his four years' worth of adversity.
In 2015, Cervelli will be charged to headline the Pirates' catching corps that also includes Chris Stewart.
Recently, the new steward of the Bucs' pitching staff caught up with Pirates pre-game and post-game host, Dan Zangrilli and the two spoke in-depth about the fresh start he has in Pittsburgh.