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Red Sox Jonathan Lucroy likely to make Boston Red Sox Opening Day roster after oﬀseason neck surgery: ‘I’m here trying to resurrect’

Updated Jul 11, 2020; Posted Jul 11, 2020

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Boston Red Sox's Mitch Moreland bats as Jonathan Lucroy catches during baseball practice at Fenway Park, Sunday, July 5, 2020, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) AP

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By Chris Cotillo | [email protected]

BOSTON -- Since undergoing neck surgery this winter, Red Sox catcher Jonathan Lucroy has seen his quality of life improve dramatically. Now, with Opening Day less than two weeks away, RECOMMENDED FOR YOU he hopes he can rejuvenate his baseball career, too. If You Like to Play, this Strategy Game is a Must-Have. No Advertisement Install. Forge Of Empires

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Watch a Heavy Lift Lucroy, a two-time All-Star who signed a minor-league deal Ship Pick Up a Navy with the Red Sox in February, arrived at the first edition of Destroyer Masslive spring training feeling better than he had in years. Five months later, at summer training camp, the former Brewer is You could switch, impressing early, having notched four hits in Boston’s first two save, and celebrate a intrasquad games Thursday and Friday. new rate! Progressive | Auto InsuranceInsurance QuotesQuotes Since having a herniated disc in his neck removed shortly after the end of last season, Lucroy has seen his bat speed increase Red Sox trade significantly. Now 34, the former Brewer feels like he has a rumors: Boston doing ‘background on Mets chance to once again be one of baseball’s best offensive minor leaguers’ as… catchers. Masslive

“Offensively, I felt like, the past three years, I’ve felt late on Promoted Links by Taboola everything. Just late, late, late,” Lucroy said Friday. “There’s a reason why. Now I know. I figured it out finally and got it taken care of. Now I’m here trying to resurrect. We’ll see what Advertisement happens but I feel pretty good.”

Lucroy starred for the Brewers from 2010 to 2016, posting a .779 OPS over 805 games before being traded to the Rangers at the 2016 trade deadline. During that time, he played for then-Brewers manager Ron Roenicke, who recruited Lucroy to join the Red Sox and compete for a backup catching job at the beginning of spring training.

Though Roenicke entered camp planning to choose between Lucroy and Kevin Plawecki as Christian Vazquez’s backup, both catchers were impressive enough that the Red Sox were planning on carrying all three of them on their Opening Day roster. Lucroy’s impressive stats in Grapefruit League games (.300 average, .881 OPS in 12 games) made Roenicke begin to consider alternative ways to use him, including at first base and as an offensive weapon off the bench.

With rosters expanded to 30 players for Opening Day on July 24, Lucroy is a near lock to make the team.

“We’re trying to see if this is the guy we saw a few years ago,” Roenicke said Thursday. “Has he bounced back from the injury he has had the last two years? He can hit, as we all know.”

Since 2017, Lucroy has bounced around to ﬁve diﬀerent teams and hit only .248 with a .666 OPS in those three seasons. His career appeared to bottom out last year with the Angels and Cubs, when he hit .232 and struck out 51 times in 293 at-bats.

Lucroy believes his neck injury -- which he tried to play through for multiple seasons -- signiﬁcantly contributed to his struggles. He had strength issues throughout his neck and shoulders and tried a series of remedies -- including pain relievers, pilates and massages -- to ﬁx the issue before visiting a Dallas neck specialist and deciding to have a disc replacement last fall.

Lucroy has been pain-free since his neck healed.

“The way I feel has been a complete turnaround,” he said. “I’m able to sleep at night, I’m happier because I’m not walking around with a knife in my neck, it feels like. I’m freed up and I just feel better overall. I’m deﬁnitely happy and grateful that I ﬁnally did it so I can go out and compete and get back to doing what I do.”

Lucroy went to the Texas Back Institute -- the same facility at which Tiger Woods had his lower back surgery in 2017 -- and realized a total replacement was the best course of action. Doctors removed his herniated disc and put in a metal replacement.

“I tried to deal with it for three years, very stupidly, to be honest,” he said. “Finally got it ﬁxed and it healed up extremely quick. I’m the only guy in the big leagues who has had this surgery currently playing. It’s something that not a lot of people know about.”

If Lucroy makes the major-league roster, the Red Sox will be responsible for paying him the prorated portion of a $1.5 million guaranteed salary. Considering what the club gave Lucroy to sign with him this spring, any impact he has at the major-league level would be welcomed.

“I feel like I’m normal again and I feel like a normal human being,” he said. “I’m not in pain all the time. It doesn’t matter if I’m catching or playing ﬁrst. I feel like I could do anything. I could DH, pinch-hit in big situations. Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do.”