Jonathan Lucroy

The Milwaukee Brewers selected Lucroy in the third round, with the 101st overall selection, of the 2007 MLB draft. He made his professional debut in 2007 with the Rookie league Helena Brewers. Lucroy went on to be named a Post-Season All-Star, while also earning Baseball America Rookie All-Star honors. In 2008, he split the season between the Class A West Virginia Power and Class A-Advanced Brevard County Manatees. Lucroy was named a Mid-Season All-Star during his time with West Virginia. He spent the entire 2009 season with the Double-A Huntsville Stars. When Lucroy was named a Mid-Season All-Star in the Southern League, he earned all-star minor league honors for the third consecutive year. Lucroy began the 2010 season with Huntsville, and was later promoted to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds.[5]

On May 21, 2010, Lucroy was called up to Milwaukee and made his MLB debut that day against the Minnesota Twins in the first ever interleague game at Target Field. He recorded his first MLB hit in his first at bat against Nick Blackburn. Lucroy became the team's everyday starting catcher for the second half of the season, and hit .253 over that time. In 2010, which was his rookie season, Lucroy only had one passed ball in 655 innings. He was unhappy with his performance at the plate during his first season in the MLB, and vowed to improve in that area. Despite Lucroy's displeasure with his performance, coaches with the team were vocal about the difficulties facing a rookie catcher and commended Lucroy for his performance.[6]

Lucroy catching for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2011

Lucroy missed the first ten games of the 2011 season with a broken right pinky finger. When he returned, Lucroy again was the team's everyday catcher, entering his first full season in the major leagues.

On May 28, 2011, in a game against the San Francisco Giants at Miller Park, Lucroy successfully executed a walk-off suicide squeeze, batting in Ryan Braun. Lucroy finished the 2011 regular season batting .265, with 12 home runs, and 59 RBI.[7]

Prior to the 2012 season, Lucroy and the Brewers agreed to a five-year extension with a club option for a sixth year. The deal guaranteed Lucroy at least $11 million, and could be worth as much as $13 million.[8] In May 2012, Lucroy broke his hand when a suitcase fell on it, and he went onto the disabled list.[9]

On August 30, 2012, Lucroy hit a grand slam and drove in seven runs for the Brewers in their loss to the Chicago Cubs, 12–11, at Wrigley Field. Lucroy turned out to be the first catcher to have two games in a single season with 7 or more RBI since Major League Baseball began officially tracking the RBI statistic in 1920 (he first did it on May 20 against the Minnesota Twins). In addition, Lucroy became the first Brewer to collect a pair of seven-RBI games in team history.[10]

Despite spending a significant amount of time on the disabled list (DL) in 2012, Lucroy had something of a breakout season for the Brewers. He became a player capable of getting clutch hits with runners in scoring position, and his power has become more and more noticeable. Lucroy hit 12 home runs in 2012 – the same number as in 2011 – but he did it in over 100 fewer at bats (316). Lucroy also managed 58 RBI, and career highs in the following statistics: batting average (BA) .320, on-base percentage (OBP) .368, slugging (SLG) .513, and on-base plus slugging average (OPS) .881.

In 2013, Lucroy had a strong season, taking over the three spot in the batting order, after Ryan Braun was suspended (for violation of MLB's substance abuse restrictions). Lucroy also made his first major league appearances at first base, even though he had never played there before. (Lucroy played first whenever Wily Peralta pitched, as Martín Maldonado became Peralta's personal catcher.) Whenever Lucroy needed a day off from catching, he often played first base instead of sitting out – so that his bat could stay in the lineup. Lucroy finished the 2013 season strong, batting .280 and posting 18 home runs, a career high.

In 2014, Lucroy was selected by the players to participate in the All-Star game. He became the starter for the National League, replacing the injured Yadier Molina. In the game Lucroy recorded two doubles and two RBI, becoming only the second catcher in MLB history with two doubles in one All-Star game, and the second Brewers player with two hits in one All-Star game.

On September 27, 2014, Lucroy hit his 46th double as a catcher, surpassing Iván Rodríguez's previous high of 45.[11] In the final game of the regular season, Lucroy had a batting average of .299, and needed at least two hits for a chance to finish the season at or over .300. After going hitless in his first two at-bats, Lucroy got singles in his last two at-bats, which raised his batting average to .301, at which point he was pulled from the game to protect his average.

Lucroy finished the 2014 season with a .301 average, 13 home runs, 69 RBI, and a National League-leading 53 doubles. He also showed a great eye at the plate, walking 66 times while striking out only 71 times. In 2014, runners stole a major-league-leading 72 bases against Lucroy.[7] He finished 4th in National League (NL) MVP voting.[12]

On April 20, 2015, Lucroy was placed on the disabled list, after suffering a broken toe. After a rehab assignment with Brevard County Manatees, he was activated from the DL, on June 1.

Lucroy appeared in the 2016 MLB All-Star Game.[13]

On July 30, 2016, the Brewers agreed to trade Lucroy to the Texas Rangers after he invoked his no-trade clause against the Cleveland Indians. The Indians were listed among eight teams to which he could not be traded without his approval. The Rangers (to whom he would ultimately be traded) were not one of the teams listed.[14] On August 1, the Brewers traded Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress to the Texas Rangers for Lewis Brinson, Luis Ortiz, and a player to be named later[15] (who turned out to be Ryan Cordell).

The Rangers traded Lucroy to the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named later, on July 30, 2017.[16] The player was named as minor leaguer Pedro Gonzalez on August 24.[17]

On March 12, 2018, Lucroy signed with the Oakland Athletics for one year and $6.5 million.[18] On April 21, Lucroy caught Sean Manaea's no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox, a 3–0 Oakland victory.

On August 22, Lucroy released this statement regarding his time with the Oakland Athletics:

The best quality of this team is not the talent, it's the chemistry. The chemistry in this room is pretty special. When I arrived, along with the other veterans they pulled off the scrap heap, they accepted us. We're all running together. A bunch of rejects in Oakland, all having a good time... It's the business side of the game. You have good years. You have bad years. Things happen. I was meant to come here.[19]

In 2018, Lucroy batted .241/.291/.325 with 4 home runs and 51 RBIs in 415 at bats.[7] Runners stole a major-league-leading 72 bases against him.[20] Lucroy had the lowest fielding percentage among big league catchers, at .990.[21] He committed 10 errors and had 83 assists at catcher, each the most in the American League (AL).[7]

On December 29, 2018, Lucroy signed a one-year, $3.35 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels.[22]

On July 7, 2019, baserunner Jake Marisnick of the Houston Astros collided with Lucroy at home plate, and Lucroy received a concussion and a broken nose as a result of the collision.[23] On August 2, Lucroy was designated for assignment by the Angels, and he was later released outright on August 5.[24]

The Chicago Cubs signed Lucroy on August 7, 2019.[25] He became a free agent on October 31, 2019.

The Boston Red Sox and Lucroy agreed to a minor league contract, with an invitation to spring training, on February 19, 2020.[26] On June 28, when the team announced 47 players invited to the resumption of spring training, Lucroy was omitted from the list.[27] However, on July 2, Lucroy was added to the player pool as a non-roster invitee, and was added to the team's active roster on July 23.[28] Lucroy was designated for assignment by the Red Sox on July 29,[28] after playing just two innings in one game for the team.[29] On August 1, the team sent him outright to their 2020 alternate training site (equivalent to a minor league assignment).[30] Lucroy was released by the Red Sox on September 15, 2020.[31]

Hours after his release on September 15, 2020, Lucroy signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies organization.[32] He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

On February 4, 2021, Lucroy signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox organization.[33]