Gavin Lux continued his hot stretch with another two hits in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ series finale against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.
The 24-year-old is now batting .295/.373/.424 with a .351 wOBA and 129 wRC+.
It’s taken Lux a few years to begin to reach the point where the Dodgers expected him to be. In his first three seasons with the club from 2019-21, Lux batted just .233/.314/.368 with a .297 wOBA and 86 wRC+ in 144 games.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes Lux is finally comfortable with who he is as a player, and that has allowed him to let his full talent shine through.
“The game is slowing down I think on the offensive side, the defensive side,” Roberts said. “He’s understanding who he is as a hitter. He’s understanding what the opposition is trying to do to him.
“He’s understanding how to conduct at-bats. And so it’s been really fun to watch him mature this year.”
While Lux has hit at the bottom of the Dodgers lineup for most of the season, Roberts recently decided to move the second baseman up to the middle of the order. Regardless of where he’s slotted, Lux keeps his focus the same.
“Yeah, I mean, whatever it is, whatever Dave asks me to go hit, that’s what I’m going to do,” Lux said. “It’s not going to change my approach. So wherever he throws me in there, I’m just going to grind at-bats out and try to pass it on to the next guy.”
Lux also believes his success has allowed him to be more comfortable at the plate without having to worry he may not be in the lineup the next day. This allows him to have a consistent approach and hit anywhere in the lineup because he’s still just trying to get on base.
The former top prospect has also said he’s benefiting from an old-school mentality when he’s hitting.
Hanser Alberto: Lux is Dodgers’ best two-strike hitter
Although Lux is batting .231/.321/.273 with two strikes on him, that is still above the MLB average in those counts, and Hanser Alberto believes his teammate is the best two-strike hitter on the Dodgers roster.
“I don’t know if he’s lying or not,” Lux said before Alberto interrupted to say he is serious. “But yeah, just two strikes, especially with guys in scoring position, just trying to shorten up and put the ball in play and just try to make something happen.
“But I think that’s really it. Just old-school stuff, shorten up, put it in play and then try to make something happen.”
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