'Second-round pick and I’m still grinding': From the hot corner to the mound, Brewers prospect Lucas Erceg still has a rocket arm

PHOENIX – Stalling out in the minor leagues typically means the end of that player’s dream of reaching the majors.

Lucas Erceg, though, is one of the lucky ones.

Unable to progress as the power-hitting third baseman he was originally drafted as in 2016, Erceg is entering the second season of a career reboot that’s seen him take advantage of his previous pitching experience and move to the mound in an attempt to make it as a reliever.

“It’s awesome,” he said earlier this spring. On Friday, Erceg hit 98 mph on the radar gun multiple times in a one-inning Cactus League stint for the Brewers against the Chicago Cubs.

“I’ve always seen myself as a big-league hitter," he continued. "I’ve always thought of pitching as the backup plan; it was never really the reality. So, to have this actually be part of my resume or whatever you want to call it is beyond belief.

“It’s crazy where this game can take you, and I’m just glad that I’m able to throw the ball hard and be a competitor on the mound and that not a lot of guys can do it.

“So, I’m happy and grateful for that.”

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The Brewers had high hopes Erceg would be manning the hot corner for them in the coming years when they made him the 46th pick out of Menlo College in 2016, paying him a signing bonus of $1.150 million.

In taking Erceg, Milwaukee missed out on the likes of outfielder Bryan Reynolds (59th overall selection), Pete Alonso (64th) and Bo Bichette (66th).

But at the time the pick made sense; the Brewers traded Aramis Ramirez the previous season and were lacking any sort of long-term answer at third base.

Erceg’s journey up the minor-league ladder was slow and steady, but he never quite enjoyed the breakout everyone had hoped he would.

He fought to stay healthy, had high strikeout totals at times and never quite realized the power potential it looked like his sweet left-handed swing would eventually produce. He also struggled defensively at times.

Erceg made it to Class AAA San Antonio in 2019, one rung on the ladder away from the Brewers, but hit .219 with 15 home runs and 52 runs batted in over 116 games – numbers that simply weren’t good enough to merit a callup.

Erceg was forced to play independent ball in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the affiliated minor-league season. Then one day in the lead-up to 2021 spring training, Erceg’s phone buzzed.

“Jake McKinley asked me if I wanted to go get breakfast one morning,” said Erceg, a native of San Jose, California, who turns 27 on May 1. McKinley was Erceg’s coach at Menlo but had since become the Brewers’ director of player development initiatives.

“This was probably a month before spring training. I had no idea; I just thought he wanted to catch up. He came out and said, ‘What do you think about doing the two-way thing?’ and I was like, ‘Dude, I’ve been asking since rookie ball if I can pitch.’

“I was super excited. It was a Monday morning, and I was already throwing off a mound for the first time, just getting my feet wet again.

“It was just cool to be on the mound again pitching.”

And so, the experiment began.

Assigned to Class AA Biloxi, Erceg logged 22 appearances, going 2-6 with a 5.29 earned run average and WHIP of 1.53 – not impressive numbers by any means, but a good jumping-off point.

Erceg, who was a closer for a time during a college career that began in the Pac-12 at California, also struck out 45 batters in 47⅔ innings while flashing a fastball that topped out at an impressive 99 mph.

“The first half of the season I was basically more of a relief guy, coming in and DHing a couple times a week and throwing maybe 1-2 innings,” said Erceg. “But in the second half, we toned back the hitting and kind of focused on pitching because I wasn’t recovering well enough, and we decided to just put the hitting away and get on a starter’s routine.

“I was opening games, maybe throwing 1-2 innings at first, and then having a starter’s routine where I’d have an off-day and then a bullpen to kind of work on some of the stuff that we got from the game, and then have more time to recover for my next outing.

“In August, I started three games and almost went five innings in all three of them. I got my first official win as a starting pitcher.

“It was awesome.”

McKinley, now Milwaukee's vice president of player development, loved the progress Erceg made and expects to see even more this season with hitting taken completely off the table.

"There's definitely some intriguing ingredients there," he said. "I'm stoked to see how he does, having more of a sole focus. I think it's tough to navigate two things.

"I trust he'll do really, really well."

Erceg was part of a group of players invited to American Family Fields of Phoenix in late February, several weeks ahead of normal report date for minor leaguers, to get a jump on the 2022 season.

With major-league camp opening March 12 after the lockout had been settled, Erceg has received a couple opportunities to pitch in Cactus League games in between his normal appearances on the minor-league side.

"I think we're all excited about where Lucas is at right now," said manager Craig Counsell afterward. "He's a pitcher now and he's comfortable pitching. It's full-time pitching, and he's making progress.

"His stuff obviously makes you take note, and we've just got to get him out there and keep going in the right direction. There's something there, for sure."

Erceg throws a four-seam and two-seam fastball, a changeup and occasionally a slider.

"It's a matter of me harnessing and trying to stay within myself and not just whip the ball as hard as I can," he said. "What I kind of struggled with last year was, I was so excited and so amped up, just happy to be on the mound – I cared about throwing strikes, obviously – but me trying to hit triple digits kind of got in the way of that.

"This offseason I kind of honed in on mechanics, moving down the mound more efficiently, putting my body in a more consistent position to throw strikes and I think it’s correlated to my sessions so far this spring."

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The new lease on baseball life has not been lost on Erceg.

"This game’s tough," he said. "You just have to make an adjustment. Obviously, we like to think we do on a daily basis, but there’s some demands that just weren’t met by me in the Brewers’ eyes and I think my goal now is to just focus on how I can improve and be open and honest about what I’m feeling and trying to work on and having a plan moving forward.

"But this game will humble you hard. Second-round pick and I’m still grinding. It’s obviously a great opportunity and I love every moment, but there’s not so many second chances and I’m one of those guys that’s just in the mosh pit right now and we’re trying to fight our way out.

"But that’s what it’s about. It’s good that we’re able to still do it."

Mariners 4, Brewers 3

It was a matchup of reigning Cy Young Award winners on Saturday night at Peoria Stadium, with Corbin Burnes taking the mound for the Brewers and Robbie Ray going for the Mariners.

Save for a solo homer surrendered in the third inning, Burnes looked sharp in his six-inning, 82-pitch stint. He allowed two hits, didn't issue a walk and struck out six.

"We're in a good spot," Burnes said. "We were able to work on a couple things today, knowing that we had the feel that we wanted to going into opening day. We mixed up some stuff, worked on some stuff and all in all, it was good.

"I would say we're coming into opening day healthy with the pitch count we want and ready to get rolling."

Milwaukee's offense had better success against Ray, with Pedro Severino collecting a pair of hits and pair of RBI and Jace Peterson driving in another run. All told the Brewers racked up seven hits, three runs and a walk against the left-hander.

Seattle tied the game with two runs in the eighth off Jake Cousins, then Trevor Gott -- who just was informed he's made the opening-day roster -- surrendered a walk-off homer to the first batter in the ninth.

Willy Adames was back the day after being forced out mid-game due to a calf cramp, starting at designated hitter, while Hunter Renfroe was a late scratch with low back tightness.

The Brewers play their penultimate home game of for the spring at 3:10 p.m. Sunday against the Texas Rangers, with Brandon Woodruff facing Jon Gray.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers former third-base prospect Lucas Erceg is now pitching