Taking stock of Lucroy’s tenure with Brewers

SAN DIEGO — Every television in the visitor’s clubhouse at Petco Park was tuned to the first pitch of Tuesday’s Rangers-Orioles game, and the room filled with cheers when new Texas catcher Jonathan Lucroy made a clean pick of Yu Darvish’s first pitch in the dirt.

At that moment, it was even more official: Lucroy’s tenure as the Brewers’ primary catcher was over after parts of seven seasons.

“‘Luc’ was a huge piece for us for so long,” pitcher Jimmy Nelson said. “A great person, not just a great player. We’re going to miss him behind the plate – but also, [Martin Maldonado] is incredible behind the plate. We trust ‘Maldy’ because we know Maldy just as well.”

Before Maldonado gets too deep into his tenure, here’s a question: Where did Lucroy rank in Brewers history?

• He was worth 18.3 wins above replacement, using the Baseball-Reference.com measure, which is most by far in franchise history for a catcher, and 14th of all hitters in Brewers history. Prince Fielder is 15th, with 16.8 WAR.

• If one only includes players drafted or signed by the Pilots/Brewers themselves, Lucroy moves up to ninth-most valuable. Hall of Famer Robin Yount, naturally, tops the list with 77 WAR during his …

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