ARLINGTON -- Jonathan Lucroy has flourished in his short time with the Rangers, hitting seven homers with 14 RBIs through 20 games. The veteran catcher faced what could've been a different reality, though, when the Rangers opened up a four-game series over the Indians with a 9-0 win on Thursday.
It was the first time Lucroy faced the Indians since vetoing a trade on the eve of the Aug. 1 non-waiver Trade Deadline that would've sent him to Cleveland. Lucroy got the Rangers' first hit of the game with a single in the second inning and came around to score on a three-run homer from Carlos Gómez. He also added a walk in the eighth in a 1-for-3 effort.
"Look, baseball is baseball. We're out there playing and I honestly don't care who's in the other dugout," Lucroy said. "I'm going to go and give it all I got every single game, no matter who's in that other dugout. It doesn't bother me."
Lucroy used his contractual right to veto the trade amid concerns he would not be the Indians' full-time catcher in 2017 with Yan Gomes on the roster. Lucroy has a team option for the 2017 season, which he was certain the Indians were going to exercise. He has assumed the full-time catching role with the Rangers and has started all but three games since being acquired. There wasn't any evidence of bad blood in the first matchup since the deal fell through.
"I think collectively, as an organization and as a team, we moved on pretty fast from that. The only reason we could be mad at him is because he's a good player and we wanted him to play for our team," Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis said. "If it goes past that, there's personal stuff, and no one has any of that, any reason to dislike the guy. As the business side of it, we completely understand what he was going through. That doesn't mean he's a bad guy."