The Los Angeles Dodgers had one of their best offensive games of the season with an 11-2 victory against the Washington Nationals that saw them tally 20 hits as a team and included contributions from up and down their lineup.
The bottom of the order has been an issue to begin the season, but James Outman provided the game-winning hit on Tuesday, and Gavin Lux and Andy Pages went a combined 5-for-10 during Wednesday’s rout of the Nationals.
Lux finished the game 2-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored, raising his season batting average to .167 and his on-base plus slugging percentage to .418, which highlights the rough start to the season.
However, Lux has been putting in work with the Dodgers hitting coaches and training staff, including Robert Van Scoyoc, Aaron Bates, Brandon McDaniels and J.T. Watkins, he told Kirsten Watson on SportsNet LA:
“Putting in a lot of work with Rob, Bates, BMac and J.T., a lot of guys that are helping out right now. But it’s been a little bit of a grind to start the year, so just to have a decent game, get a couple of barrels on a ball, move the ball forward in the air. Just keep taking baby steps forward over the course of 162 and hopefully, by the end you’re where you want to be.”
Lux is getting closer to being fully past his injury, but every day still presents a new challenge in his road back to 100%, so he’s just trying to focus on doing the right things, rather than the results at this moment:
“It’s still every day, I feel like there’s a new position, or pushing off, or getting in a different spot, where it’s just continuing to build confidence on the knee. It’s part of the process, it’s not going to happen overnight. Every day is like a new opportunity to do something I didn’t do for a whole year, so that’s the way I’m looking at it. So just got to be process-oriented right now.”
The 26-year-old missed the entire 2023 season due to a torn ACL and LCL in his right knee, so it was expected Lux wouldn’t be fully in-sync to begin the season. But his struggles were highlighted even more in Spring Training when he was moved out of the starting shortstop role due to his continuous errors.
Lux still has a long way to go offensively, but his defense at second base has been elite, ranking in the 94th percentile of outs above average.
If he can get his offense to around a league-average level, the Dodgers will have a valuable player who can be a winning piece for any team.
Gavin Lux’s offensive struggles attributed to mechanics
It also appears that Lux is still searching for his swing, and there doesn’t seem to be any underlying health issues causing his struggles.
“No, I don’t think so,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts answered when asked if Lux’s offense struggles are related to his health. “I think physically, Gavin is in a great spot. I think there’s an approach, there’s a mechanical part that’s sort of playing into the inconsistencies early.”
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