Pirates Francisco Cervelli: Waiver Wire Must Add?
By Brad Kelly
Francisco Cervelli is in the midst of a career-best season for the Pirates. Yet, is the breakout legit and worth making him a must-add off the waiver wire?
The Pirates surprisingly sit on top of the NL Central after starting the year 17-11. A key cog in their success is the breakout level production that they are getting from Francisco Cervelli. With it looking like Cervelli is on the verge of a breakout, should fantasy owners buy in?
Cervelli is amazingly in his 11th pro season, and fourth with the Pirates. His time with the Pirates has been up and down. While he has certainly stepped in and been their starter, he has only played in over 120 games once.
From a fantasy perspective, owners have not targeted him as anything more than a waiver wire target or AVG source. Heading into 2018, he was still off the fantasy radar after only mustering a .249/5 HR/31 RBI/.712 OPS line over 81 games in 2017.
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Over the offseason, Cervelli really worked at his game. He tried to become better offensively, and thanks to the advice of teammate Sean Rodriguez, he adjusted his swing. The results have been rather instant.
By adding more loft to his swing, Cervelli is boasting a near league-best 51% FB rate. He is combining that with 51% Med and 37% Hard contact rates, offering owners evidence to why he has notched 10 XBH early in the season.
Even more impressive, he has cut his K rate by 3% and has maintained his solid 10% BB rate. In terms of his production at the C spot, Cervelli’s numbers across the board have him as a top-5 performer. The added loft and launch angle has his HR total at four, which is already more than half of his career high.
Even his RBI total of 20 is nearly half of his career-high of 43. With the likes of Gregory Polanco, Josh Bell, and Starling Marte batting in front of him, there will be no better chance of him easily eclipsing his counting stat numbers.
When it comes to a 32-year-old catcher, seeing outliers in his batted ball profile needs to be solidified by tangible changes. The swing alteration has him on the new launch angle wave, thus combining his solid contact rates with an increase in power.
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The catcher talent pool is barren, propelling Cervelli even further up the ranks. Believe in his swing change and ride him while he is hot. Do not let him hang around on the waiver wire any longer.