Jonathan Lucroy Featured in Hilarious All-Star Game Ad

The Milwaukee Brewers are at it again. After releasing a political-themed ad that rattled off reasons why gold glove centerfielder Carlos Gomez should get your vote for the 2014 All-Star Game, their star catcher Jonathan Lucroy was the recent beneficiary of that same concept.

While the Gomez mockmercial — a word I just completed made up — was funny in its own right, this ad featuring Lucroy takes it to a completely different level. If you’ve watched the video at least a dozen times like me, you know that it rivals perfection. The 51 second clip begins by admitting St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is a great catcher in his own right, only there’s one problem — he plays for the St. Louis Cardinals.

‘Do we really want another St. Louis Cardinal starring in the All-Star Game?’ We’re asked. We know the answer to that, as does Lucroy himself, who shakes his head at the camera. Cut to the best portion of the commercial, the sound of a crying baby at the site of Molina squatting behind home plate, paying homage to this infamous video of an incredulous Molina arguing a called strike three call against the Brewers back in 2011.

Basically, the remainder of the ad drives home the point that Lucroy isn’t a St. Louis Cardinal, and that the best catcher in baseball — at least this season — plays in Milwaukee. The hashtag accompanying the video is #LockInLuc.

Lucroy still needs plenty of help in that regard seeing how Molina continues to lead the voting among National League catchers by a considerable margin with Lucroy sitting back in third. But this video, even though it is merely some good-natured ribbing, could very well aid Lucroy in the voting process.

Trust me. Some Cardinal fans are fully aware of this possibility. In fact, they are so focused in making sure Molina starts over Lucroy in the Midsummer Classic that they completely shut off their sense of humor and made sure to remind people who the best catcher in baseball truly is while smearing Lucroy, and the Brewers, in the process.

Goodness.

There are many more, but the point has been driven home. Some Cardinal fans are very protective of their players, which to a degree is fine. They should stand by their man. But while those string of tweets are hilarious, they are also quite sad. The personal attacks and the downright ignorance of the statistics each player has compiled during the 2014 season, which is the season used to determine who is deserving of reaching the 2014 All-Star Game, believe it or not, is pretty remarkable.

Much more can be said of these tweets, but there are only so many words. Here’s the bottom line.

Jonathan Lucroy: .340/.401/.537, 8 HRs, 37 RBIs

Yadier Molina: .283/.332/.408, 6 HRs, 26 RBIs

Offensively, it’s not even close. Lucroy is having a far superior season. And when it comes to Lucroy’s work behind the plate, he has developed a reputation as one of the best pitch framers in all of baseball. He’s an above average catcher defensively, and while he’s still not at Molina’s level when it comes to defensive or reputation, he’s closing the gap, slowly but surely.

If you aren’t convinced that Lucroy is more deserving to get the nod behind the plate for the NL in July, look at what he did to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.

Unfortunately for Lucroy, the vote totals don’t reward the Brewers’ fifth-year catcher for his breakout year. This needs to change, and Lucroy is change we can believe in.