Jonathan Lucroy's loss is a blow to the Brewers. (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers’ nightmare start to the 2015 season got even worse Monday, when All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy broke his left big toe and was placed on the 15-day disabled list.
“I’ve been hit a million times in my feet, (but) that’s the first time I’ve seen a catcher break their toe, and it had to be me,” Lucroy said. “It’s par for the course right now. I don’t know what is going on, but it is weird. We have to adapt, overcome and deal with it. It is just part of life.”
The injury happened in the sixth inning when Reds second baseman Zack Cozart fouled a Wily Peralta offering off Lucroy’s foot. Lucroy finished out the inning and even batted in the bottom of the frame, but he gave way to backup catcher Martin Maldonado in the seventh.
“I’ve been hit a million times in my neck, arms, hands, fingers, feet — everywhere,” Lucroy said. “I could feel a difference in this one. The pain was a lot sharper. Especially when I went up to hit, I knew something was going on because I could feel it swelling up in my shoe. Then I went to go hit, and when I torqued on my front foot, it lit me up pretty good.”
His injury is the third in less than a week for the Brewers, who lost center fielder Carlos Gomez to a hamstring injury Friday and will also be without second baseman Scooter Gennett for at least a couple days after he needed five stitches to close a cut on his left hand.
“It’s hard when you’re not playing well and you’ve lost Gomez, you lose Scooter for a few days and now you lose Luc,” Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said after the Brewers’ 6-1 loss to the Reds. “But we know we can get back in it. You just keep chipping away.”
Like just about everyone on the Brewers’ roster, Lucroy is off to a rough start in 2015. He is batting .156 with no home runs and two RBIs.
Catcher Juan Centeno will be recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Tuesday to take Lucroy’s roster spot. Centeno, 25, is hitting .179 with two RBIs in eight Triple-A games this year. He appeared in a total of 14 major league games with the Mets in 2013-14, hitting .225/.279/.225 with three RBIs.
