Former Brewers draftee finding groove with A's

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy’s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MILWAUKEE -- Lucas Erceg was in the showers in Durham when Triple-A Nashville pitching coach Jeremy Accardo interrupted to say Erceg was wanted in manager Rick Sweet’s office. Erceg, the former infielder and high draft pick who has been public about his battle with alcohol and depression, in addition to the struggles of converting from position player to hard-throwing reliever, hadn’t been pitching well.

He thought he was about to get demoted, or worse.

“I kind of took my time taking a shower, took my time getting dressed. I was delaying the inevitable in my head,” he said.

When he got to Sweet’s office, Brewers farm director Tom Flanagan was there. Sitting behind his desk, Sweet explained that in his role as manager, sometimes he has to deliver bad news. Erceg braced himself to be professional, no matter his disappointment.

“Then he paused and goes, ‘But that’s not happening. You just got traded to the Oakland A’s and you’re going to the big leagues,’” Erceg said. “I saw Ned Yost [IV], our third base coach, videotaping me secretly. I was like, ‘There’s no way, dude!’ It took me a couple of minutes to digest what had just happened.”

The Brewers traded Erceg to Oakland for cash, essentially a favor for a player who had always been a pro in Milwaukee’s Minor League system, and now had a chance to play in the Majors. It didn’t feel real, Erceg said, until several batters into his May 19 Major League debut in Houston, when the crowd reacted to Jose Altuve stepping to the plate. Altuve was making his season debut in that game and drew big cheers all night. Erceg’s knees buckled a bit.

But he got through the outing, and has made nine appearances in the big leagues, including his two scoreless innings against his former team in Friday’s 5-2 A’s win over the Brewers. He earned his first Major League win May 29 against the Braves.

"I actually followed him a little bit and saw the day he got his win and pitched really well,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said coming into the series. “I'm rooting for him. He spent a long time here, a long time in the Minor Leagues, his position change, he completely reinvented himself. Those are good stories.”

This weekend marks Erceg’s first visit back to Milwaukee since he passed his post-Draft physical and signed his first professional contract. How special to be back as a member of the A’s, the team he cheered for growing up in the Bay Area.

“Baseball,” he said. “[It’s] full circle for me.”

And here’s one of the best parts of Erceg’s story: Today marks three years of sobriety. He has the date he gave up drinking -- June 10, 2020 -- stitched onto his glove.

“I’m waking up every day with the mindset of really taking advantage of being grateful for just being here,” he said. “If there ever is a time that I get sent down or whatever, that I made this first coming to the best of my ability.”