Ace KC Royals reliever leans on struggles to find right perspective in life, baseball

Much like everyone else on the KC Royals, reliever Lucas Erceg is in the middle of an up-and-down season. He started 2025 looking as solid as ever, but over the last couple of weeks, perhaps the team's larger struggles are beginning to weigh on him. Of course, considering that Erceg has long ago found a way to keep perspective both on and off the field, it's a safe bet the ace reliever will be able to get his stuff together and turn into a lock-down pitcher before long.

Last week, Erceg sat down and discussed how he has developed the perspective he has. Some of it comes from being a successful baseball player. Some of it has to do with the journey he took to become sober. And some is just being able to see how the world works.

Ace KC Royals reliever leans on struggles to find right perspective in life, baseball

Speaking to the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast, the KC Royals reliever talked about how he went out to speak to Boomville Correctional Facility earlier this month. He said he talked to staff and inmates and was asked what he does when times are tough and the negative thoughts start intruding.

“I basically told them, every day is going to have its struggles. I'm not going to wake up feeling great; I'm not going to wake up not sore,” Erceg explained. “I'm not going to wake up after a bad outing and kind of have the best outlook on my life.”

“The hardest thing for me to accomplish that day is to immediately try and flip that mindset to something positive,” he added. “Like flipping your mindset to a positive outlook on your life. And, you know, I told them that just it starts with the choice you want to make.”

The Kansas City pitcher knows that there are plenty of people who often have to fight their demons. They have to fight back against negative views and feelings. 

All of this sounds like something that will not only help Lucas Erceg during a period of time when he and his teammates are all struggling on the field. He is hopefully sharing his perspective with his KC Royals teammates and can be part of the solution for getting them to bust out of a rather depressing slump.