24-year old righty swinging catcher Francisco Cervelli is one of the reasons the Yankees are in first place right now. When Jorge Posada broke his foot Cervelli stepped up big time and the Yankees’ pitching staff didn’t miss a beat. Cervelli has played in 51 games for the Yankees this season and he is 43 of 155 (.277 avg, .712 OPS) with 15 runs scored and 29 RBIs. It’s good to know the Yankees now have a backup catcher they can trust so that Jorge Posada gets the needed rest this year to stay fresh.

40-year old closer Mariano Rivera is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. He has pitched in 28 games (0 starts) for the Yankees this year and he is 1-1 with 17 saves, a 0.99 ERA and a 0.62 WHIP. Rivera has only allowed 11 hits in 27 1/3 innings this season while whiffing 26 showing he still has his late game chops. Rivera will likely be major league baseball’s all-time leader in saves in a couple of years as he now has 543 which has him 53 behind Trevor Hoffman who has lost his job as the Brewers’ closer. Rivera is #13 all-time in ERA (2.22) and #3 in WHIP (1.00) in major league history right now. The Sandman is remarkable to watch as he is still an awesome pitcher at 40 years old.

The Yankees have designated 35-year old righty swinging catcher Chad Moeller for assignment. Moeller played in 4 games for the Yankees this season and he is 2 for 11 (.182 avg, .614 OPS) with 2 runs scored. The Yankees have recalled 25-year old lefty swinging outfielder Colin Curtis who made his major league debut last night going 0 for 1 against the D-Backs. Curtis played in 35 games in AAA this season and he was 35 of 125 (.280 avg, .725 OPS) with 12 runs scored and 12 RBIs. The Yankees hope that Moeller will accept a minor league assignment and stick around in case Posada re-injures his foot.

38-year old lefty starting pitcher Andy Pettitte is on an absolute roll for the Yankees this season. He has started 13 games for the Yankees this season and he is 8-2 with a 2.47 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He has only given up 72 hits in 87 1/3 innings this season and he’s being very aggressive this year. The Yankees need him to keep up the good work because just he and Phil Hughes are pitching like they can in the rotation for the Yanks so far this season. Pettitte continues to move up the Yankees’ all time charts. He is now #3 in games pitched (397), #2 in games started (388), #3 in wins (200), #5 in innings pitched (2,494) and he also is #2 (1,784) in Yankees’ history which is pretty darn impressive when you think about it.

The Yankees have signed 32-year old righty swinging infielder Eric Bruntlett to a minor league deal. Bruntlett played in 45 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 34 of 165 (.206 avg, .600 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 1 homer, 11 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has played in 512 games in his major league career and he is 182 of 789 (.231 avg, .633 OPS) with 115 runs scored, 11 homers, 72 RBIs and 31 stolen bases. This was little more than an organizational depth signing as Bruntlett isn’t much of a player.