The Los Angeles Dodgers have entrusted Gavin Lux to adequately learn and play the outfield on the fly, and Game 3 of the National League Championship Series saw both ends of the spectrum as the former top prospects continues to acclimate himself to a new position.
Each of Lux’s four starts this postseason have come in center field, where he is most comfortable when playing on the grass. Lux demonstrated some of that when he made a running catch on a sinking line drive to start a double play in the first inning.
However, he then dropped a fly ball at the wall in deep center field, allowing the Braves to put two runners in scoring position with one out. That played a part in Atlanta putting together a four-run fourth inning to take a lead they held until the bottom of the eighth.
Buehler failed to make it out of the fourth inning, which included a missed strike three call on Joc Pederson that allowed him to later end the at-bat with an RBI single.
Despite Lux’s misplay and home-plate umpire Jerry Meals blowing a call, Buehler took responsibility for the inning spiraling out of control.
“At the end of the day I have the ball in my hand, and me and Will kind of control the game and control what we want to do,” Buehler said.
“I didn’t execute a lot of pitches after that, so it is what it is. Gavin is extremely talented and has been put in a position that’s extremely difficult in that he’s playing a position he’s never played before for September and now in the playoffs.
“And in talking to him after the game, I think he’s going to learn a lot just on how to make that specific play from that one. It just so happens that it happens at this time of year and everyone’s going to be watching it.
“Gavin’s confident enough and talented enough to handle that kind of stuff. So that inning is on me, not on him, not on the umpire, not on anything like that. I think the other thing is he made a huge play in the first inning that kind of changed the whole complexion of the game right from the jump. So we have no issue and no lack of confidence in Gavin.”
Roberts not worried about Lux
Echoing what Buehler expressed, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also dismissed the idea Lux dropping the fly ball caused the right-hander to come undone.
“I know that it’s a play that Gavin expects to make. There’s the wall, there’s some sun and Gavin won’t make any excuses,” Roberts said. “It’s a play he knows he should make. As far as Walker, I don’t think it got him out of his rhythm. I’m sure that it’s a play that you see a fly ball and you think it’s two outs and a man on first base.
“We didn’t make the play, he knows he’s still got to go out there and make pitches and that’s just the way it is. In that Joc at-bat I thought it could have went either way, that 0-2 pitch. But again, Walker knows, he’s as accountable as any pitcher I’ve ever been around and so knows he’s just got to continue to make pitches.”
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and more!
