On Nov. 14, the Pirates sent P Justin Wilson to the Yankees, and in return they obtained Yankees C Francisco Cervelli.

As of right now, it seems as though the Pirates will go to spring training with the Cervelli penciled in as the #1 catcher. Although he may not end spring training as the starting catcher.

Cervelli was a fan favorite of many Yankee fans, and he is added to the list of previous Yankee catchers that land with the Pirates.

At age 28, Cervelli has been in the Yankees organization since 2003.

In September 2008, Cervelli made his big league debut, and he received a cup of coffee in the big leagues going 0-5 at the dish.

On May 5, 2009, Cervelli was once again recalled to the MLB team. This time he was used as Jose Molina’s backup until Molina broke his foot on May 7. Cervelli then became the Yankees everyday starter until Molina returned on July 8. During his time as a starter, Cervelli impressed manager Joe Girardi and his Yankees teammates with his defense.

After 2009, Cervelli caught the injury bug:

2010: Cervelli was hit in the head with a pitch, and placed on the DL with a concussion. (93 games)

2011: Cervelli broke his foot in early March. (43 games)

2012: Cervelli wasn’t injured during 2014, but he lost the backup catcher job to current Pirate catcher Chris Stewart. He was depressed after the demotion and didn’t get back on track until his parents helped refocus on his game. (3 games)

2013: Cervelli fractured his right hand after getting hit by a foul tip. He also received a 50 game suspension for being linked to the Biogenesis scandal. (17 games)

2014: On April 13, Cervelli had a hamstring injury and was placed on the 60 day DL. On Sept. 6, he had a migraine headache and was benched until it got better. (49 games)

There is one alarming sign here for Pirates fans, Cervelli has never played 100 games in a season, and he has a chance to be an everyday catcher.

Cervelli has some very good sabermetrics that back up his case to be a stud for the Pirates in 2015.

He is a very good pitch framer. His number was 1.47, and it was good enough for the 8th best in MLB.

In his career, he has a .729 OPS, and his wRC+ is 1% above league average.

Also, he produced a very high 1.3 WAR in just 49 games. His high WAR is mostly due to his great defense, but he has shown the ability to swing the bat.

In 2014, Cervelli had an excellent season slashing .301/.370/.432. Throughout his career, he also has been able to swing it pretty well for a catcher, his career slash line is as such, .271/.343/.367.

Remember, Russell Martin’s stock wasn’t very high when he signed with the Pirates. The deal was disgusting to most fans, but Cervelli seems to have the same characteristics that Martin possesses as a defensive catcher.

It will be interesting to see if Cervelli can live up to the hype of his sabermetrics. And will he be able to hold off Tony Sanchez, who is just waiting for an opportunity to start every day in the MLB.

Here’s a link to the original article: http://thebuccoblog.sportsblog.com/posts/1274786/in_depth_look_at_pirate_catcher_francisco_cervelli.html