ESPN New York's Andrew Marchand obviously does not read Pinstripe Alley. After Tuesday night's awesome 3-for-3 plus a great catch effort by our hero Marchand wrote "Cervelli is quickly becoming a Yankee folk hero."
Becoming? Andrew, Andrew, Andrew. Where have you been? Francisco Cervelli is The King. He is God. He is the solution to world hunger. He is the cure for all the world's sick children. He can play all nine positions at once. He is the answer to Javier Vazquez' troubles.
C'mon, Andrew. Read Pinstripe Alley. Listen to the masses here, and you would know these things already.
Seriously, though, Marchand was effusive in his praise of Cervelli. So, we give him credit for that. Here is some of what he wrote.
Cervelli may never hit 30 homers, but he leads the Yankees in energy. His teammates love him, because of the Little League-like enthusiasm he shows on the biggest stage.
Cervelli creates excitement almost every moment he is on the field. He produced the Yankees' first run by nailing a line drive to right center in the third. Adam Jones left his feet and dove for the ball. It whisked under him and to the wall.
Cervelli, who hustles right out of the box, sprinted around first and then, like a modern day Pete Rose, sans the gambling, he knocked off his helmet and kept churning. When he got to third, standing up without a throw, he led the cheers, clapping like he was in the upper deck.
Later, in the sixth, he added a bunt base hit and, in the eighth, a sacrifice that led to an insurance run.
"He did all the little things and he did them as well as you could do them," Girardi said.
Cervelli doesn't only bring the energy, pitchers love throwing to him. Catching ERA can be a dubious stat, because it is mostly predicated by the guy who is a little more than 60-feet away. Entering yesterday, Cervelli owned the third best catcher ERA since the beginning of last year (minimum 300 innings).
The Giants' Eli Whiteside (2.90) and the Mariners' Rob Johnson (3.18) were the only catchers who had better ERA's than Cervelli's 3.18. By comparison, Jorge Posada's ERA since 2009 is 4.86 in 932 innings.
Other than Javier Vazquez, Yankee starter have been brilliant.
A.J. Burnett, in his second season in pinstripes, is now 4-0 with a stingy 1.99 ERA.
Burnett isn't the only one on the starting staff that has been light outs through the first five weeks of the season. There are Cy Young candidates almost everywhere you look on this roster. CC Sabathia is 4-1 with a 2.74 ERA. Andy Pettitte, who will start Wednesday afternoon against the O's in the finale, is 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA. And Phil Hughes is 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA.
Those eye-popping numbers should be the talk of the town. Those four starters should be the reason Yankee fans should feel good that their team, indeed, has a chance to repeat as champions.
"They've competed at a very high level," Girardi said. "They've gotten us to the eighth and seventh innings multiple times.
"They've pitched probably as well as you can pitch. It's been great to see."
Speaking of Vazquez, he is not making excuses. And he does not expect his troubles to vanish overnight.
"I think it's probably a process," Vazquez said. "I wish I could go out there the next time out and throw a shutout. That would be great. But at the same time I'm working on things, it's a process and hopefully I'll get it soon."