Texas Rangers: Jonathan Lucroy’s Immediate Impact

The Texas Rangers may have found the catcher of the future and they seem to be courting him quite well as he only has one more year left on his contract. Jonathan Lucroy may be the difference maker in the Texas Rangers playoff run this year.

Since Jonathan Lucroy joined the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline he has hit 7 HRs and has 14 RBIs in 15 games. These numbers only demonstrate the offensive impact that he has brought to the Rangers, he has been just as valuable behind the plate.

It seems that Lucroy has already created a relationship with all of the pitchers and seems to be a combating voice that Yu Darvish has been needing as well. One of the first starts that Darvish had with Jonathan Lucroy behind the plate, he shook off a couple of pitches that ended up leading to HRs for the opposite team. Darvish made his mistakes known after the game almost as if it was a tip of the hat to Lucroy.

Listening to a recent interview on Dallas sports station 105.3 The Fan, Jonathan Lucroy expressed just how hard he works to prepare for an opponent and that he calls the pitches that he does for a certain reason. His approach to the game has probably been most obvious with the recent play of Martin Perez.

It seems that Jonathan Lucroy entered the building knowing that he was joining a winner and being confident that he was bringing something to the table. Maybe it is the new ritual of Sam Dyson and Jonathan Lucroy tugging on each others beard after a save to finish a game that makes it feel like he’s always been with the team.

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His leadership and ability to not be afraid of a big moment is obvious when at the end of that interview on The Fan; he insisted to tell the host that he was part of a team a couple of years ago who had a sizeable divisional lead on the 2nd place team in mid-August and his team ended up losing that lead and not making the playoffs. Lucroy made it clear that just because of the Texas Rangers recent success, he is going to do everything he can to be sure that situation does not happen to this team.

The Texas Rangers are greatly benefiting for the 2nd year in a row from a trade that almost didn’t happen. If it wasn’t for Cole Hamels and Jonathan lucroy vetoing their first trades then this team would look quite different right now. I am eager to see if Jonathan Lucroy can help Derek Holland‘s game come back to life and just how well Colby Lewis can continue to be once he returns soon as well.

Next: Texas Rangers: Choo Unlikely To Return

Have you noticed Lucroy’s impact and just what he has and continues to bring to the table? What do you thin of what the Texas Rangers gave up for him? What would you like for the Nolan Writin crew to dive into for your reading pleasure?