As he recounts one of the darker times of his baseball career, you can hear J.P. Arencibia’s voice shake.

The Philadelphia Phillies catcher joined Dean Blundell & Co. on Friday morning and spoke about his battle with anxiety, which he says began in 2013 during his last of four seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays.

“There are times that I just broke down,” Arencibia said on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. “One night I told my wife ‘I don’t even want to be there,’ because if you think about it, man, I’m a Major League Baseball player but I’m sitting here crying.”

Arencibia enjoyed success at the outset of his career, hitting 23 home runs in his first full season in the big leagues. But by 2013 his continued struggles started to get the best of him. Arencibia hit .194 that campaign and made headlines when he got into a spat with Sportsnet analysts Gregg Zaun and Dirk Hayhurst, criticizing their playing careers and remarking that they were “informing fans the wrong way.”

Listen to J.P. Arencibia’s interview here

