Milwaukee Brewers: Greatest Catchers In Franchise History

Greatest catchers in Milwaukee Brewers history #1: Jonathon Lucroy

Recency bias be damned, Jonathon Lucroy is the best catcher in Milwaukee Brewers history. Never mind the fact that he played seven seasons with the Brewers, second only on this list to BJ Surhoff, but Lucroy could probably be considered the best in franchise history off his 2014 season alone.

In 2014, Jonathon Lucroy broke Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez's record for doubles by a catcher in a season with 49, when he hit 53 doubles. Not only did that break the single season record for a catcher, but he also led all of Major League Baseball in doubles in 2014. Lucroy slashed .301/.373/.465 for an .837 OPS, his 131 OPS+ that season is the second best in franchise history. Lucroy was named an NL All-Star and broke up what could have been a run of seven consecutive All-Star games for Buster Posey who is likely a first ballot Hall of Fame catcher. That 2014 season, Jonathon Lucroy posted a 6.4 WAR, the highest by a catcher in Brewers history. Lucroy finished fourth in MVP voting.

Jonathon Lucroy was an All-Star again in 2016 but was traded to the Texas Rangers in a deal that netted the Brewers Lewis Brinson, who would later become the centerpiece in the Brewers trade for Christian Yelich.

Over his seven years with the Milwaukee Brewers Jonathon Lucroy batted .284, got on base at a .342 rate and slugged .436, combining for a .779 OPS and 110 OPS+. In his seven seasons Lucroy hit 79 home runs and 157 doubles, those numbers aided him in driving in 387 runs in his tenure.

Lucroy never posted a fielding percentage below 98.8 percent as a Brewer and caught 176 runners stealing as a Brewers backstop. Lucroy took it personally that scouts didn't think he was a defensively capable catcher and worked tirelessly to improve that aspect of his game and it paid off. To this day, in the history of the Milwaukee Brewers, Jonathon Lucroy stands above the rest as the best catcher in Brewers franchise history.