Cervelli moves to No. 2 in order
PHOENIX — In the past week, as the Pirates offense slumped, general manager Neal Huntington and manager Clint Hurdle named four players they believed have hit into hard luck so far this season: Andrew McCutchen, Gregory Polanco, Jordy Mercer and Francisco Cervelli.
In those cases, the results are worse than the indicators, Huntington said Sunday, and in catcher Cervelli’s case “much worse than his indicators.” Cervelli, whose batting average 10 games ago sat at .190, went 12 for 33 (.364) with a 1.069 OPS in his next nine starts. Wednesday, he singled and homered off Los Angeles Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda.
Hurdle placed Cervelli in the No. 2 spot in the lineup, hitting behind leadoff man Josh Harrison for the second day in a row, for a series opener Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cervelli entered the series with a .779 OPS and 15 RBIs, tied with McCutchen for the team lead.
“He’s shown the ability to see pitches,” Hurdle said. “Trying to play off J-Hay’s ability to get on base, the way he’s swinging the bat right now, and set things up for the guys in the middle of the order.”
Cervelli’s ability to be a high OBP batter was a big reason they acquired him in 2014. He is walking at a lower rate than he did in 2016, when he posted a career-high 14.2 percent walk rate, but has shown increased pop at the plate. As right-hander Gerrit Cole pointed out late last month, Cervelli has been hitting lasers. His ground-ball rate is 46.8 percent, nearly 10 points better than last season, and his hard-contact rate (41 percent) is up from 27 percent in 2016.
In 2016, Cervelli didn’t homer until Sept. 22. He already has three this season.
“This year, healthy, he’s shown the ability to drive the ball so much better and cleaner than he was at any point last year playing off the [hand] surgery,” Hurdle said. “He’s hit more balls hard to right-center field and left-center field. He’s hit a homer to center, left and right.”
Prospect re-rank
Outfield prospect Austin Meadows is fourth on Baseball America’s updated top10 prospects ranking. Meadows, the Pirates’ first-round pick in 2013, was sixth before the season began. Preseason No. 1 Andrew Benintendi and No. 3 Dansby Swanson were removed from the list because they lost prospect status once they surpassed 130 at-bats in the majors.
The only player to vault Meadows was the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger, who homered Wednesday off the Pirates. Bellinger jumped four spots to No. 3 in the updated list. St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Alex Reyes fell from No. 4 to No. 10 because of Tommy John surgery.
Meadows, 22, has warmed lately, turning in a three-hit performance Tuesday, but entered Class AAA Indianapolis’ Thursday game batting .207 with a .544 OPS in 28 games.
Tyler Glasnow (preseason No. 23) and Josh Bell (preseason No. 35) are no longer prospects. Class A Bradenton right-hander Mitch Keller bumped up four spots to No. 18 in the second ranking, and Class AA Altoona shortstop Kevin Newman climbed five spaces to No. 50.