Francisco Cervelli denies saying he is done catching

In a rather strange turnabout, Francisco Cervelli has said he was misquoted after claiming to be done catching.

The Pittsburgh Pirates veteran was quoted by local journalist Dejan Kovacevic as saying he was “done” with catching after his sixth concussion and that he simply couldn’t handle it anymore.

“That’s enough,” Cervelli was quoted as saying. “This time is different. I can’t live like this.”

On Saturday, six days after Kovacevic’s story was posted, Cervelli told Pittsburgh media that he’d been misquoted and never said he was finished with catching.

Francisco Cervelli said he was quoted without the use of a cell phone or recording device. Insisted he never said he was done catching.

— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) July 13, 2019

Francisco Cervelli: "On Sunday, I never said that I don’t want to catch. That was a misunderstanding. It never came from my mouth. That’s why I posted what I did yesterday."

— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) July 13, 2019

Francisco Cervelli on getting interviewed without a recording device: "You’re going to do an interview, you better pull out your cell phone. I believe if you do something more than one minute, you don’t have a computer in your head. You’re not going to use the right words."

— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) July 13, 2019

Cervelli had shared similar sentiments in an Instagram post on Friday evening.

View this post on Instagram

“Saying that I quit from my catcher responsibilities is inaccurate. My hope is to catch again. Not being in the catcher spot right now is part of the process of recovery from several concussions that have forced me to stop and think about my health beyond my baseball years, that have made me reflect on my health and my life in general and how my decisions affect other people that want the best for me in the long run. I keep working hard, there’s no other way for me to do things. I love baseball but I also have to take care of myself. I want to take care of myself and have quality of life now and hopefully from many more years This requires to reinvent myself, have patience and keep working In other words, to my fans, rest assured that I am working hard on my recovery and I will come back with more strength and the same passion I have always had for this sport. That, I can assure you: I have nothing other than passion, gratitude and love for what I do, for this sport. This isn’t just a job for me. This is part of my life and I can’t live my life without injecting passion and energy, heart and mind into what I do, whatever that is. " Decir que “renuncié” a ser catcher es exagerado . . Que no esté en la receptoría ahora mismo, es parte de mi proceso de recuperación de varias contusiones que me han obligado a parar y pensar en mí mismo más allá de mi carrera; que me han hecho reflexionar sobre mi salud y mi vida, y que involucra a muchas personas que quieren lo mejor para mí . . Yo, por mi parte, sigo trabajando duro, no puedo hacerlo de otra forma. Amo el beisbol, pero también quiero cuidarme y vivir una vida de calidad . . Eso implica reinventarme, tener paciencia y seguir trabajando. . Así que tranquilos, que me estoy recuperando y regresaré con más fuerza y las mismas ganas de siempre, porque eso sí tengo yo: ganas, pasión y amor por lo que hago . Esto no es un simple trabajo para mí, esto es parte de mi vida y yo no puedo vivir mi vida de otra manera que no sea poniéndole el corazón y pasión a lo que hago, sea lo que sea.

A post shared by Francisco Cervelli (@fran_cervelli) on Jul 12, 2019 at 5:39pm PDT

Kovacevic responded in a separate article, stating that Cervelli had simply changed his mind. He claimed that a team official had not objected to the report before it was published, and that Cervelli’s only frustration was that it had run before he’d met with a doctor on Wednesday.

The timing of all this is odd, as Cervelli’s quotes were fairly big news around baseball, especially when compounded with a plate collision in Houston last weekend. Cervelli let the story spread before waiting six days to dispute it, and while it’s true that he and the media didn’t have access to each other during the All-Star break, he could have issued a statement on Instagram as he ultimately did Friday. The main takeaway, however, is that Cervelli still wants to catch if at all possible.