first grand slam of his career, in a series tiebreaker on the road against Texas. Cervelli was optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the 2012 season, with Chris Stewart winning the job as Martin's backup. Cervelli admitted that he moped following the demotion, until his parents visited him during the season and refocused him on improving his game. The Yankees recalled Cervelli to the majors when rosters expanded on September 1. When Martin signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cervelli became the starting catcher for the Yankees in 2013. In a game against the Blue Jays on April 26, Cervelli suffered a fractured right hand after getting hit by a foul tip by outfielder Rajai Davis; he then underwent surgery the next day and was placed on the 60-day disabled list. On August 5, 2013, Cervelli was suspended for 50 games after being linked with the Biogenesis scandal. Cervelli competed with John Ryan Murphy and Austin Romine to be the backup catcher for the Yankees in spring training in 2014. Cervelli won the job, but suffered a hamstring injury on April 13, and was placed on the 60-day disabled list. He returned to the Yankees on June 17. On September 6, Cervelli suffered from cluster migraines. Though they were determined to not be the result of his prior concussions, he missed time while he recuperated. Cervelli finished the 2014 season with a .301 batting average in 49 games. Pittsburgh Pirates On November 12, 2014, the Yankees traded Cervelli to the Pirates in exchange for pitcher Justin Wilson. Cervelli started 124 games for the Pirates in 2015, in which he batted .295 and was worth 3.8 Wins Above Replacement. Runners stole a major-league-leading 101 bases against him. Prior to the 2016 season, the Pirates signed Cervelli to a one-year contract worth $3.5 million. During the 2016 season, the Pirates signed Cervelli to a three-year contract extension, worth $31 million. In 2016, his batting dropped to .264/.377/.322 (his lowest slugging percentage of his career), as he hit only one home run in 393 plate appearances, and caught 19% of attempted basestealers. In 2017, Cervelli batted .249 (the lowest batting average of his career)/.342/.370, as he caught 20% of attempted basestealers. On June 22, 2018, he was placed on the seven day disabled list with a concussion. He was activated a couple of weeks later but fell back to the seven day disabled list with