The Los Angeles Dodgers have yet to play a game during the 2020 regular season, but Gavin Lux has their virtual counterparts in the MLB The Show Players League playoffs, which begins Friday.
Lux finished regular season play at 19-10, though settled for the eighth and final playoff spot because of losing the head-to-head tiebreaker of runs scored (78 to 77) to the Chicago Cubs’ Ian Happ.
He too went 19-10 but in drastically different fashion than Lux. Whereas Happ won 10 of his last 11 games, Lux jumped out to a 12-4 record before cooling off as the season progressed. One of those victories came against Joey Gallo of the Texas Rangers, who was undefeated prior to suffering a loss to Lux.
Despite his slide in the standings, the Dodgers’ top prospect finished two games ahead of the San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. for the best record in the National League West.
As a result of being the No. 8 seed, Lux is slated to face Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays. He led all players with a 24-5 record, and defeated Lux in their lone regular-season meeting. Their best-of-three playoff matchup begins Friday at 7 p.m. PT on FS1.
The semifinals starting Saturday evening, with ESPN2 and FS1 each airing a best-of-three series. The winners of each semifinal will then meet in the best-of-five championship series on Sunday, May 3, which is scheduled to air on ESPN.
Each MLB team had a representative in the video game league. The Players League is benefiting Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada, with a total of $175,000 being donated across the 30 MLB team communities.
MLB, the MLB Players Association and Sony Interactive Entertainment will donate $5,000 on behalf of each participating player to a Boys & Girls Clubs affiliate in their team’s community. The league champion will earn an additional $25,000 donation to a Boys & Girls Club in his community.
MLB The Show Players League playoff rankings
1) Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays (24-5)
2) Joey Gallo, Texas Rangers (23-6)
3) Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays (21-8)
4) Jeff McNeil, New York Mets (21-8)
5) Dwight Smith Jr., Baltimore Orioles (19-10)
6) Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox (19-10)
7) Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs (19-10)
8) Gavin Lux, Los Angeles Dodgers (19-10)
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