New York Yankees reserve catcher Francisco Cervelli has a broken left foot and could be sidelined for two months, according to a report from ESPN. Cervelli suffered the injury when he fouled a ball off his foot during an exhibition game.
This opens the door for one of the Yankees two highly-touted catching prospects, Jesus Montero or Austin Romine, to earn the No. 2 catching job behind Russell Martin to start the season. Baseball America recently listed Montero, the crown jewel of the Yankee minor-league system, as its No. 3 overall prospect. Romine also made the list of the top 100, checking in at No. 98. So far this spring, Montero has just one hit in eight at-bats over three games (.125) but his defense has been praised as better than anticipated. Romine has two hits in four at-bats (.500), also over three games.
The Yankees have previously said their plan is to move long-time catcher Jorge Posada to designated hitter, relegating him to only emergency duty as the No. 3 catcher.
Three other catchers are in camp with the Yankees, non-roster invitees Gustavo Molina, Jose Gil and Kyle Higashioka. It is possible one of them could make the squad if the Yankees decide they would rather keep Montero and Romine at the minor-league level to begin the season.