After a freak accident that involved his wife accidentally knocking a suitcase onto his hand Sunday night, Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy will undergo surgery on the broken hand Thursday morning, according to team spokesman Mike Vassallo.
But for Lucroy, that news has been just part of what he described to SportsRadio 1250 WSSP's Chuck & Wickett on Wednesday morning as "a brutal couple of days."
The majority of Lucroy's concern centered on the criticism his wife has taken as a result of the freak accident. Lucroy told the show that, following the injury, his wife, Sarah, had been receiving a bevy of hateful messages on Facebook from angry Brewers fans.
"It's tough for me because it's already a freak thing as it is," Lucroy told WSSP. "My wife has been getting hate mail on her Facebook, messages and stuff. It's really sad that these kind of things happen from a freak thing. She didn't do it on purpose, man. It was an accident. Stranger things have happened.
"It's been a battle for me, personally, because there's no one to blame, and my wife is getting killed by this. It's not like she's not hurting enough already, feeling guilty enough already. I really wish people would leave her alone, leave us alone, just let us try to move forward and get this behind us."
The catcher wasn't originally thought to need surgery, but even with the procedure, Lucroy is still expected to miss six weeks. The procedure, performed by Brewers team doctor William Raasch, will involve planting a pin in his right hand to connect the broken bone.
If all goes as expected, the surgery should allow Lucroy to fully recover and regain the grip necessary to continue his success at the plate.
"The more correctly aligned they are, the better my grip strength will be whenever it heals up," Lucroy told WSSP.
And hopefully for the Brewers that healing will come sooner rather than later. Before suffering the injury in his hotel room, Lucroy had been one of the hottest hitters in major league baseball, batting .345 with five home runs and 30 RBI this season. He was replaced in Tuesday's lineup by Martin Maldonado, who is expected to take on an everyday role.
"As soon as is humanly possible, I'll be back in there getting after it," Lucroy told WSSP.
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