Three keys to continued success for Francisco Cervelli

Francisco Cervelli enjoyed a career resurgence in 2015. Can he provide the Pittsburgh Pirates with an encore performance this season?

The collective sigh of relief that you heard from Pittsburgh last May signaled that Pirates fans and observers could finally rest easy knowing that the team made the right decision by bringing Francisco Cervelli in to replace the dearly departed Russell Martin.

Cervelli did more than just lead the team in batting average. He provided an emotional spark, solid pitch framing, and an energy that was infectious. In doing so, he personified the term “fan favorite.”

Here now are three keys for Cervelli to guard against a backslide this upcoming season.

First, he must stay healthy. Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Cervelli set career highs in games played and plate appearances in 2015, as last year was the first season in which he played 100 games or more. In doing so, he took numerous beatings behind the plate. Foul tips, batters hitting him on their back-swings, and more all conspired to take the Pirates backstop down. Yet he remained resilient, and he will need to do so again in 2016 in a batting order that will rely on his bat more than ever.

Do not be surprised if Chris Stewart, however, sees even more starts behind the plate to spell Cervelli more frequently.

Second, he must continue to rake against left-handed pitching. Cervelli did some serious damage against southpaws last year, with a batting line of .310/.386/.470. Although the Pirates will not see many left-handers in their own division, the backstop’s propensity to hit lefties well could mean that Clint Hurdle will not feel forced to pinch-hit for him against potential lefty relievers.

Third, continue to torture relievers as a whole. Francisco Cervelli loves to see a relief pitcher come in. In his first plate appearance against incoming relievers, he greets them in a rather rude way, as seen below.

Of course, the .446 BABIP (batting average on balls in play) shown here cannot be ignored. It suggests there was some luck involved in these numbers, but the walk and strikeout rates tell the true tale. Both of these rate stats actually improve over his season-long overall numbers. His walk rate increases from 9.1 percent overall to 11.2 percent. His strikeout rate drops about two percentage points as well. This suggests that Cervelli does a great job in immediately adjusting to an incoming pitcher after seeing the opposing starter for the bulk of his day.

With another season of good health, Francisco Cervelli could be primed for an impactful followup to his breakout 2015 campaign.

Thanks for checking us out here at Pirates Breakdown. Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook for the best Pirates coverage all year long!