Francisco Cervelli has been named the manager of Team Italy, the Italian Federation of Baseball and Softball announced Friday. Cervelli, 38, was born and raised in Venezuela before turning pro with the New York Yankees in 2003. His father was Italian, though, so he played catcher for Team Italy in the 2009 and 2017 World Baseball Classics.

Italy previously had another former big league backstop as their manager, Mike Piazza, who has apparently been ousted in favor of Cervelli. Cervelli made his MLB debut in 2008, then won a World Series with the Yankees in 2009. He remained with the club through 2014, batting .278 with 10 home runs, 92 RBI, a .729 OPS and a 4.3 WAR in 250 games.