Francisco Cervelli is still loving baseball. His presence is big for the Marlins, too.
Francisco Cervelli lined an Aaron Nola fastball past the extended reach of Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorious and into left field in the third inning Friday. The catcher, a 12-year MLB veteran inserted into the lineup at the last minute after Jorge Alfaro was put on the Injured List for unspecified reasons, just recorded the first hit of the Miami Marlins’ shortened 2020 season.
After taking a couple extra steps around the basepaths before retreating back to first base, Cervelli signaled as if he wanted the ball before giving out a quick laugh. Just playing around, he said.
Two batters later, he scored the team’s first run on a Jonathan Villar sacrifice fly and celebrated as much as he could with teammates under these new social distance and limited physical contact protocols in place to limit potential spread of the novel coronavirus.
A dozen years in a the big leagues, and the game is still fun for Cervelli. He’s still living in the moment. It has to be that way, he said. He wouldn’t be here otherwise.
And Opening Day, the start of another trip around the MLB calendar, that never gets old either.
“I was nervous the whole day [Friday]. That’s the way it is,” Cervelli said. “You love this game. If you’re not feeling the butterflies in your stomach, you have to go home.”
Now, Cervelli will be the first to admit he was nervous about playing this season as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hit the United States.
But he reminded himself that he has a job to do.
“This is not a secret: Everybody is concerned,” Cervelli said. “I don’t want to have this virus or anyone on my team. We just have to be careful, man. We don’t know what’s going to happen. Every day here in Miami, it’s getting crazy, but I don’t know. Am I a little scared? Yes, but we’re here to play baseball. That’s it. The only thing I can control is myself and I think we make a promise here on the team that we’re going to take care of each other. It’s a little weird because baseball is more than just playing on the field. Baseball is what we do outside together with a little bit of everything. Right now, it’s sort of an office job, so I have to do my part, take care of myself, take care of my teammates and MLB does the rest.”
As for the last-second addition to the lineup on Friday, Cervelli said he wasn’t fazed.
“I don’t change anything,” Cervelli said. “I always prepare myself like I’m the starting guy. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You can not take anything for granted. You have to be prepared because things change in one second.”
His value on the field was well noted Friday: His first hit and first run in the third inning helped settle in the Marlins’ offense. His work behind the plate with Sandy Alcantara on the mound helped keep Philadelphia at bay while the rest of the offense erupted for four runs in the sixth inning en route to a 5-2 Opening Day win for the Marlins.
“It is nice to have Cervi there,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “because you know he’s an experienced guy who has run staffs and played in big games.”
His worth off the field might be even more valuable. The New York Yankees organization groomed him from the day he signed as an international free agent in 2003 to his MLB debut on Sept. 18, 2008, and through his first seven years in the big leagues.
His mentality is essentially an extension of what the front office, led by CEO and fellow former Yankee Derek Jeter, have been preaching for the past three years.
“I don’t know anything else,” Cervelli said. “George Steinbrenner put a chip in my brain that it’s all about winning. I don’t know anything else. Instead of me talking about ‘Let’s win, let’s win. I have to show it with actions. In the end, when you lose, the season’s longer. It’s miserable. The clubhouse is miserable. I hate that. We have to find a way to win games. Winning games in the big leagues is hard, but we’re all big leaguers. We can make it happen.”
The Marlins made it happen on Friday. The goal is to continue that Saturday and throughout the course of the 60-game season.
“You can’t think about winning 40 games,” Cervelli said. “You have to win one first. Every day is different. You have to be strong and go with the same mentality. It’s a short season, so a lot of things can happen.”
Pre-game rumblings
▪ Mattingly made a few defensive changes to his lineup Saturday. The highlights: Jonathan Villar is at second base, Jon Berti is in center field, Garrett Cooper is at first base, Jesus Aguilar is the designated hitter, Chad Wallach is catching and Isan Diaz is not starting. The top six in the batting order remain the same as Friday (Villar, Aguilar, left fielder Corey Dickerson, right fielder Harold Ramirez, third baseman Brian Anderson, Cooper). Shortstop Miguel Rojas moves up to seventh. Wallach and Berti are eighth and ninth, respectively.
▪ Mattingly on lefty Caleb Smith, making his first start of the season: “He’s been good. Obviously the second half wasn’t so good last year. Smitty continues to evolve. We feel like he did a lot of work physically on his body over the winter. That’s freed him up to be a little more loose and get the ball to better parts of the place. We’ll see. We feel like he’s throwing the ball good. He’s going to have to pitch. He gives up some homers. Hopefully they’re solos, but he’s a guy who’s got a good mix going right now. Hopefully, he’s able to use it all tonight.”
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