Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Who is the "clutchest" Yankee this year? It's not who you think

Reporters and fans love to debate the question of which player you'd like to see up in a big spot. With the Yankees, most would say Derek Jeter, while others might say Alex Rodriguez or perhaps Mark Teixeira. I have a different answer for which 2010 Yankee I'd most like to see at bat with the game on the line. My choice - at least for this season so far - is Francisco Cervelli!

The young backup catcher is hitting .400 in 20 games this year, and has a .471 OBP and .987 OPS, which is crazy enough. But his numbers with runners in scoring position are through the roof. I told Brian Sinkoff of Albany's Sound-Off With Sinkoff radio show yesterday that it seems that Cervelli does something great every single time he plays. And my perception isn't far off the mark.

Check out Frankie's "clutch" numbers. With runners in scoring position, he hits:
.786 BA  .824  OBP  1.071 Slugging   1.895 OPS

Make it two outs and  runners in scoring position, and the numbers are even better:
.857  BA   .857  OBP 1.000  Slugging 1.857 OPS

If Jonathan Papelbon had pitched to Cervelli, instead of plunking him last night, I have a feeling he might have done something great against the Red Sox. But in a way he did - he scored the winning run!

What do you think? Tell us about it! 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I knew that ...Cisco Kid has been amazing to this point. It seems like he is always driving in a run ...

Of course ..will he hang with the big boys as the season progresses? I certainly hope so ... :o)..

Lisa..I answered your question about rainouts on the Alex/Jeter post.

Go Yankees 2010 !!!

MONDOAS said...

Can't people, Girardi open your eyes, see that this guy is not a joke anymore! He needs to be in the lineup everyday. The biggest problem is if Jorge is asked to DH more often, his butt will be hurt and that's not good for the team but Jorge...you need to to do this for the greater good of the team.

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