Gavin Lux has been out of the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup since their homestand began, and he’s due to miss at least the remainder of the San Francisco Giants series.
Lux initially was starting at shortstop in the series opener against the San Diego Padres as Trea Turner received his first night of rest this season. However, he was scratched shortly after the Dodgers lineup was released.
“I don’t know if it was a plane flight or what it was, but as he started to get it loose, the neck started to act up again, get cranky, and it was enough that he couldn’t post,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained at the time.
Roberts revealed last Friday that Lux received a cortisone injection to treat his neck trouble and mentioned it could be upwards of six days until he returned. Roberts then stated on Monday that Lux would not appear in the series against the Dodgers’ rival.
Lux first dealt with neck pain in late August and it caused him to miss four games over a five-day span. Even with the issue returning, the Dodgers don’t regret deciding against putting him on the 15-day injured list last month.
“I just think at that point, you know what you know,” Roberts said. “He felt that he was playable, that he could play. And then we got back the other night and showed up and said his neck was just in a worse place. I don’t think it makes a whole lot of sense to say, ‘Could we have? Or should we have?'”
The Dodgers have a break in their scheduled Thursday before facing the Padres to start a road trip. The Dodgers then are off again on Thursday, Sept. 15.
Timing of Lux’s neck injury
When Lux last played, he was at the center of the New York Mets coming from behind to clinch a season series win against the Dodgers. He took accountability for not getting to a blooper in shallow right field, and Roberts isn’t overly concerned that memory will lead to any frustration until Lux is able to return.
“Gavin has done a really nice job of handling some adversities, turning the page and learning from them, moving forward,” he said. “But yeah, ideally, you probably want to get back in there. I don’t know if the word is redeem yourself, but you just want to get back out there.
“But I think we’ve all turned the page on that. For me, it’s just something that as we look out to the rest of season and the postseason, we’ve just got to guard against things like that.”
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