BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Francisco Cervelli has one primary personal goal this season — stay healthy.
The Pittsburgh Pirates catcher was limited to 81 games last year. A concussion landed him on the disabled list twice in June and he was also sidelined by left wrist inflammation before his season ended Aug. 26 because of a strained left quadriceps.
The 32-year-old Cervelli changed his workout routine in the offseason, concentrating more on flexibility than strength. He also started his workouts in October, a month earlier than normal, because he sat out the final month of the season.
“All my work was focusing on prevention of injuries,” Cervelli said. “I tried to fix all the problems. They already call me ‘veteran,” so I have to show that (32) is still young. I feel good and ready to go.”
Cervelli hit .249 with five home runs last season and threw out just 20 percent of runners (11 of 55) attempting to steal a base.
He has hit well this spring, though, as entered Saturday with a .353 average (6 for 17), three doubles and a home run. He connected off the New York Yankees’ Sonny Gray on Thursday.
The Pirates are hoping Cervelli carries the spring performance over to the regular season as he is their highest-paid player with a salary of $10.5 million. He enters the second year of the three-year, $31.5-million contract extension he signed early in the 2016 season that took effect last year.
Pittsburgh is also without a proven backup catcher after opting not to re-sign Chris Stewart. Elias Diaz, who has played in 67 games over parts of the last three seasons, will likely open the season as Cervelli’s understudy.
Furthermore, the Pirates traded arguably their two biggest stars in January.
Center fielder Andrew McCutchen, the 2013 NL MVP and five-time All-Star, was dealt to the San Francisco Giants. Right-hander Gerrit Cole, a 19-game winner in 2015, was shipped to the Houston Astros.
The Pirates are coming off back-to-back losing seasons following three straight trips to the postseason. Yet Cervelli says he is optimistic about the retooled roster.
“We’ve got people who can do an amazing job,” he said. “The young guys, they’re going to be superstars soon. We got other players from other teams.
“Best of luck to those guys,” Cervelli said, referring to McCutchen and Cole. “They’re still family to us, but we’ve got to move forward. The mission is still the same for us and that’s to win as many games as we can.”