Yes ladies and gentlemen, at long last the Yankee fan heart throb from Valencia, Venezuela has returned, one Mr. Francisco Cervelli. We’ve had to put up with Russell Martin hitting all those doubles and HRs at the bottom of the order for the past month, but now every 3 innings those of us who haven’t been getting enough sleep can catch a quick nap when Posada-Gardner-Cervelli-Jeter is due up. I missed you Frankie, all those many faces, the BA with RISP that couldn’t last, the Home Run once every two years, the CS% lower than Jorge, the sense of fashion straight out of a 1980s Miami Vice episode. Don’t ever change Frankie. Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.
Here’s the lineup, courtesy of Brian Heyman over at LoHud:
1. Jeter SS
2. Granderson CF
3. Teixeira 1B
4. Rodriguez 3B
5. Cano 2B
6. Swisher RF
7. Posada DH
8. Gardner LF
9. Cervelli C
Ivan Nova gets the start, fresh off his strong outing facing the White Sox on Tuesday. Let’s see if Ivan can string together two in a row. Go Yanks!
UPDATE: Via Jack Curry’s Twitter, Kevin Millwood has decided to opt out of his minor league deal with the Yanks. Fine by me, let those starts go to someone who’s an actual prospect, instead of a retread like Millwood.
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3 Responses to Game #25-Frankie’s back!
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TIQ IQ
Gardner gets on to lead off an inning and you bunt???? What the hell is Giradi thinking?
I’m surprised the Yanks waited long enough to give Millwood the chance to opt out. After the last game, I would have just let him go and maybe pushed him out the door.
…And I suppose you want Russell Martin to play every day until he turns into Cervelli?
My guess is Cervelli’s next start will be next Sunday, the last game of the Detroit-Texas roadtrip so Martin gets two days off 5/8-9.
I’d start Cervelli like this:
Sun.5/8 @ Texas (Martin rests 5/8-9.)
Wed.5/18 @ Baltimore (or the first game of a doubleheader that day or 5/19 if the Yankees play a makeup game either day.)
Sat.5/27 @ Seattle (Martin rests 5/26-27.)
Sun.6/5 @ Los Angeles (Martin rests 6/4-5.)
Thu.6/16 Texas (1:05pm day game after a night game.)
Sat.6/25 Colorado (1:05pm day game after a night game, Martin rests 6/23, 25 & 27.)
Wed.7/6 @ Cleveland (last game of a roadtrip, Martin starts all games of the four-gamer at home vs. Tampa Bay before the All-Star Game I hope he starts and helps win.)
Thu.7/21 @ Toronto (last game of a roadtrip)
Fri.7/29 Baltimore (Martin rests 7/28-29.)
Tue.8/9 Angels (Martin rests 8/8-9.)
Wed.8/17 @ Kansas City (last game in K.C.)
Thu.8/25 Oakland (day game after a night game, last game of a three-game/one series homestand)
Sat.9/3 Toronto (day game after a night game.)
Sun.9/11 @ Angels (day game after a night game.)
Sun.9/18 @ Toronto (day game after a possible night game as my pocket schedule has a TBA start time for Sat.9/17, Martin has 3 days of rest out of 5 9/15-19.)
15 total starts / 3 starts a month
If Girardi started Posada just once a month from this month on, that’s another 5 rest days for Martin.
Martin starts 122 games from here on in / 144 games total if Posada makes no starts, 117 games from here on in / 139 games total if Posada starts 5 games.
If you want to add 5 more starts to Cervelli for 20 total, fine, then 20 or 25 rest days for Martin depending on if Posada is getting in a few games.
A a backup catcher who can’t hit starting every 7 or 8 games is a necessary evil.