The Yankees are in good shape behind the plate in 2012. 29-year old righty swinging Russell Martin will be the starter behind the plate for the Yankees in 2012. He played in 125 games for the Yankees last year and he was 99 for 417 (.237 avg, .732 OPS) with 57 runs scored, 18 homers, 65 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Martin has now played in 792 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 737 for 2,761 (.267 avg, .757 OPS) with 404 runs scored, 72 homers, 365 RBIs and 74 stolen bases. Martin’s glove work isn’t his best asset. He played in 125 games behind the plate for the Yankees last year and he had 10 errors and 4 passed balls. Martin threw out 35 of 135 (25.9%) base stealers last year and Yankees’ pitchers had a 3.70 ERA with him behind the plate.

25-year old righty swinging Francisco Cervelli will be the backup catcher in 2012 for the Yankees. He played in 43 games for the Yankees last year and he was 33 for 124 (.266 avg, .719 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 4 homers, 22 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Cervelli has now played in 181 games in his first four years with the Yankees and he is 133 of 489 (.272 avg, .692 OPS) with 57 runs scored, 5 homers, 71 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Cervelli’s hustle is one of the big reasons why he has been the backup for the last couple of years. Cervelli played in 41 games behind the plate for the Yankees last year and he had 6 errors and 3 passed balls. He threw out only 4 of 28 (14.3%) base stealers last year but Yankees’ pitchers had a 3.50 ERA with him behind the plate. Despite all of the warts in his game, Cervelli is still a decent backup.

23-year old righty swinging Austin Romine is likely the Yankees’ catcher of the future. He comes into this season as the Yankees’ #8 prospect according to Baseball America. He played in 9 games for the Yankees last year and he was 3 for 19 (.158 avg, .358 OPS) with 2 runs scored. It was his first taste of the majors. Romine also played in 89 games in AA+AAA-ball last year in which he was 98 for 351 (.279 avg, .710 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 6 homers, 48 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Romine only played in 8 games behind the plate for the Yankees last year and he had 1 error but no passed balls. He threw out 1 of 6 (16.7%) base stealers and Yankees’ pitchers had a 4.26 ERA with him behind the plate. Romine has a bright future for the Yankees.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CATCHERS IN 2012: B