Los Angeles Dodgers top prospect Gavin Lux was expected to be the team’s starting second baseman in 2020, although he ultimately wound up being left off the Opening Day roster after reporting to Summer Camp late and not looking like his usual self.
Lux spent the first month of the season at the team’s alternate training site at USC working on his swing to get back into game form. He was recently recalled and is expected to see a majority of the time at second base to finish out the year, looking to earn a spot on the postseason roster.
While it is unclear why Lux reported to Summer Camp late, what was evident was he needed some more time to get ready. “I think whenever you’re expected to do good and you come up, you’re expected to perform,” he said.
“I think everyone is held to that standard here. When you’re ready, you’re ready, and you come up to help the team win. I saw that last year, so coming into this year I knew what to expect. So I don’t think there’s any added pressure.
“I think it’s just getting comfortable and going and playing. Baseball is baseball at the end of the day.”
Now that he had an extra month to prepare, Lux is feeling a lot better at the plate. “My swing feels like it’s in a lot better place,” he said.
“The results might not be showing up right now, but I’ve been putting in a lot of work with Brownie, Rob and Aaron. Just trying to continue to get better, continue to work and try to stay locked in.”
That’s certainly good news as Lux admitted he didn’t get to work on the mechanics of his swing as much as he would have liked to during Summer Camp.
“I think it was just getting at-bats. I didn’t really have time to play with mechanics too much, so I just kind of got in there and tried to get as many at-bats as possible,” he explained.
“I didn’t play with mechanics too much and I didn’t really want to, because you’re still facing big league pitchers. It’s hard to think about mechanics and try to go play that night. I don’t think anybody can do that, so I was just focusing on getting as many at-bats as possible and trying to get as comfortable as possible in the box.”
Lux first joined the Dodgers around this same time last year, which came he tore up the Minor Leagues to earn his MLB debut. “It’s different. Coming up last year, I had 100-something games under my belt; full nine-inning games,” he said of joining the Dodgers in 2020.
“At the USC site, it depends on who’s throwing that day and how many innings guys got. Obviously, you’re doing the best you can to make it as realistic as possible. At the end of the day I don’t think it compares to full nine innings of actual baseball, where results matter, winning matters, everything matters more.
“So it’s definitely a little bit different, but baseball is baseball. But yeah, it is a little bit different this year.”
While Lux has gotten off to a bit of a slow start with the Dodgers, it is understandable considering this is his first taste of real game action this year. A focus of his though has been trying to stay aggressive.
“I think when I’m good, I’m aggressive in the zone and I trust my eyes to tell me if it’s a ball or strike. I think that’s when I’m rolling. In the batter’s box it’s like, ‘Yes, yes, yes, no.’ Instead of, ‘No, no, yes.’ I think that’s when I’m going good is when that’s kind of my mentality and approach,” he said.
Lux working on fundraising for Kenosha
Lux’s hometown of Kenosha, Wisconsin, has been in the news lately after Jacob Blake was shot seven times by a police officer, causing a number of protests and riots in the city.
Considering he has lived there his whole life, Lux revealed that he is working on a fundraising effort for the local businesses.
“It’s still a work in progress. We’re getting all the nitty gritty details figured out still. I definitely am going to do a fundraiser. That is where the details are getting figured out,” he said.
“When I go home after the season, I think that’s when I’m going to really get involved in the community, because I grew up there, a lot of people I know have been affected by this, so I want to be down in the community. That’s kind of what I’m looking forward to once the season is done.”
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