HE WON THE STRUGGLE –
May 29, 2023 – “I’m 22 years old, right? I’m drinking five or six (beers) and going out the next day and going 2-for-3,” Erceg told MLB.com last year. “I didn’t think it was (a problem). I made it into a game: ‘If I have four tonight that means one hit tomorrow. So, if I have eight, that will be two hits.’”
The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll, and in 2020, he batted .180 for the Sugar Land Lightning Sloths of the Independent Constellation Energy League.
Finally, with his pro career in jeopardy thanks to dwindling production, Erceg stopped drinking, stitching the date he got sober – 6/10/20 – on his glove. Erceg pitched part-time at Cal in 2014 and 2015, and split time as a pitcher and a hitter in 2021 with Double-A Biloxi. He began to pitch full-time in 2022 and between Double-A and Triple-A, went 3-4 with a 4.55 ERA in 61 1/3 innings.
This year, for Triple-A Nashville, he went 3-1 with a 6.46 ERA before the A’s purchased his contract.
