GOODYEAR, Ariz. — When Gavin Lux walked off the sector at Goodyear Ballpark on Monday, the previous Dodgers infielder wore three issues.
A brilliant crimson Cincinnati Reds jersey; one on the other finish of the colour spectrum from his outdated Dodger blue threads.
A straightforward, assured smile; already feeling settled together with his new membership lower than two months faraway from an offseason commerce that modified the trajectory of his profession.
And, maybe most of all, an unmistakable chip on his shoulder; out to show loads of individuals — a few of his outdated employers in Los Angeles, included — fallacious about what he’s able to on a serious league diamond.
“Always, I think you have that chip on your shoulder,” stated Lux, a former first-round draft choose and prime minor-league prospect of the Dodgers who spent six seasons on their main league roster (together with each its 2020 and 2024 World Collection squads) earlier than being dealt to the Reds this offseason in alternate for outfield prospect Mike Sirota and a draft choose.
“I think you always want to prove that you can play on the left side of the infield, you can hit lefties, whatever that chip is,” Lux stated. “Every guy has a different chip. For me, I think that’s one of them.”
Certainly, the Dodgers’ hesitancy to play Lux at a number of positions or give him common at-bats in left-on-left matchups had been two of the principle causes they shipped him to Cincinnati in early January — days after their signing of Korean utilityman Hyeseong Kim made the 27-year-old an expendable piece of the roster.
“After that signing, you’re like, ‘Oh, OK, maybe there’s a chance [I could get traded],’” Lux stated Monday, after taking part in in opposition to the Dodgers for the primary time within the Reds’ 8-1 spring coaching win.
“Obviously you still don’t really expect it after being in one place for so long. But at the same time, it is a business. They have to do what’s best for them. And I think they did me a solid by getting me to a place that has the expectation of winning. … A place where I think they think I can help.”
Gavin Lux walks again to the dugout earlier than a sport between the Dodgers and Angels in September.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Occasions)
When Lux first arrived within the majors in 2019, the expectation was that he’d be a cornerstone piece of the Dodgers’ long-term success, seemingly primed for star-level manufacturing as their potential shortstop of the long run.
However, regardless of a monstrous minor league profession that vaulted him into dialogue as one of many prime younger skills within the sport, Lux by no means fairly carved out a full-time function within the Dodgers’ lineup.
In 2020, he performed simply 19 video games within the pandemic-shortened season, batting a woeful .175 whereas spending a lot of the season on the staff’s alternate coaching website.
In 2021, Lux raised his batting common to .242 however struggled to discover a dwelling defensively, posting below-average metrics at shortstop (whereas quickly filling in for an injured Corey Seager) earlier than ending together with his short-lived experiments at third base (the place he dedicated two errors in his lone look) and the outfield (maybe most dubiously remembered for a collision with teammate Cody Bellinger that left Bellinger with fractured ribs).
Lux’s finest season as a Dodger got here in 2022, when he set career-highs in batting common (.276), slugging share (.400) and OPS (.745) whereas taking part in primarily at second base.
Alas, when the Dodgers tried to shift Lux again to shortstop in 2023, he blew out his knee per week into Cactus League play, sidelining him for the remainder of the yr. Then got here final spring, when a recurrence of throwing miscues in camp prompted the Dodgers to place him again at second base and transfer Mookie Betts to shortstop solely weeks earlier than the season.
Although Lux shook off a gradual begin offensively to the 2024 marketing campaign with a blistering second half (he batted .304 with a .899 OPS and 7 dwelling runs after the All-Star break), he was by no means absolutely trusted with an on a regular basis function, getting simply 50 whole plate appearances in opposition to left-handed pitchers.
And as soon as the Dodgers finalized their three-year signing of Kim — who was a embellished utility infielder within the Korean Baseball Group, regardless of questions on how his bat would translate in opposition to MLB pitching — it turned obvious that Lux won’t have a spot on the 2025 roster.
The commerce with Cincinnati was struck three days later.
“Obviously he’s a really good player and contributed a bunch to our year last year,” stated basic supervisor Brandon Gomes, who was the one to name Lux and inform him of the deal this winter.
Former Dodger Gavin Lux is about to play a number of positions with the Reds this season.
(Carolyn Kaster / Related Press)
“But looking at the construction of the roster, [we asked ourselves] are there ways where we’re not going to take a step backwards to be able to add some future value as we’re signing free agents? … It’s that balance of, when it makes sense and you’re not giving up what you feel like is major league wins in that type of way to continue to be able to add to the farm system, it makes a lot of sense.”
Whereas Lux spoke extremely of his time with the Dodgers on Monday — when he obtained a primary probability to meet up with former teammates corresponding to Max Muncy, Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernández — he was additionally waiting for his new function with the Reds, who view him as an skilled and versatile participant able to serving to them vault into postseason competition.
“Everybody is trying to win,” Lux stated of the Reds, who additionally employed two-time World Collection champion Terry Francona as supervisor this offseason. “It’s a young team, but everybody has the same goals and that’s to win games. There’s a lot of talent. It’s just putting it all together.”
Lux stated his function will embody taking part in a number of positions, together with on the left aspect of the infield and the outfield — locations the place the Dodgers had seemingly misplaced religion in his glove. On Monday, Lux obtained the beginning at third base, the place the Reds have a comparatively open competitors.
“We’re going to kind of figure it out as we go,” Lux stated. “I have no problem bouncing around, doing whatever I have to do to help win or just to get at-bats.”
Incomes extra of these at-bats in opposition to left-handed pitching is one other process on Lux’s to-do listing. And to that finish, Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts offered his former second baseman with an inadvertent take a look at.
In Lux’s three journeys to the plate, he confronted three totally different left-handed Dodgers relievers: Anthony Banda (who walked him), Tanner Scott (who struck him out wanting) and Alex Vesia (who Lux joked gave him a wink after inducing a pop-up).
“He’s gonna probably be upset with me for running all those lefties out today,” Roberts joked, noting the matchups had been coincidental.
Seems, Lux felt precisely the other — embracing an early alternative to point out each his present and former golf equipment what he believes he’s able to on the outset of this new chapter in his profession.
“I need to see guys like that anyways,” Lux stated with fun. “It is funny, though, getting matched up with three lefties. It is what it is. It’s all fun.”
