A's Acquire Lucas Erceg From Milwaukee Brewers
Lucas Erceg was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of the 2016 MLB Draft as a corner infielder. The player the A's acquired on Wednesday evening is a right-handed reliever.
The A's press release: "The Oakland A’s have acquired right-handed pitcher Lucas Erceg from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for cash considerations, the club announced today.
Erceg, 28, was originally drafted in the second round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft as an infielder. Erceg converted to the mound partway through 2021 and is 5-2 with a save and a 4.28 ERA in 46 games at the Triple-A level spanning 54.2 innings of work. Overall, he is 8-11 with a 5.07 ERA in 84 career minor league appearances. Before converting, Erceg spent five seasons splitting time between third base and first base. He hit .256 with a .735 OPS in 503 games."
Erceg was a member of the Brewers' Top 30 on MLB Pipeline as recently as 2020 as a corner infielder, ranking at #26. From 2017 to 2019 he ranked 7th, 4th, and 8th. He was a legitimate prospect with the bat, but just never had consistent success in the upper minors.
Now 28, Erceg has been trying his (right) hand at pitching since 2021. The San Jose native racked up 24.2 innings pitching at Cal between the 2014 and 2015 seasons. This year with Triple-A Nashville, his overall numbers have been drastically inflated by one poor outing a week ago where he gave up six earned on four hits and two walks without recording an out.
In the month of April, he made nine appearances spanning 13 innings and held a 2.08 ERA with five walks and 13 strikeouts.
In his final outing with the Sounds on May 14, Erceg was sitting 96-98 with his sinker, which he threw 52% of the time. He also used an 88.9 mile per hour slider (23%), 89.3 mph changeup (16%), and a 96.6 mph four-seamer (10%).
Erceg was not on the Brewers' 40-man roster, so he does not need to be added to the A's 40-man just yet, but he will be Rule 5 eligible during the off-season. Oakland has a plethora of relief options currently, including Rico Garcia and Chad Smith, who are currently on the team's 40-man roster. Domingo Acevedo, Billy Sullivan (Cristian Pache trade), Jake Fishman, Miguel Romero, and potentially Deolis Guerra who is currently injured, are all also non-roster options.