Gavin Lux reached base in all four plate appearances during Game 4 of the National League Division Series, and he again will be in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for the winner-take-all matchup against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Thursday night.
“He’s going to play,” manager Dave Roberts said after his club staved off elimination with a 7-2 win. “He’ll be in there somewhere, yeah.”
The options for Lux to start essentially are boiled down to center field or left field. He’s taken more naturally to staying up the middle, but Roberts previously indicated Cody Bellinger would likely start in center field for all NLDS games at Oracle Park because of how large it is.
Of course, that quickly changed as Chris Taylor was inserted into center field and Bellinger played first base in Game 2.
“It’s a bigger ballpark, there’s more real estate. I think it just boils down to you either trust a guy out there or you don’t, and he either makes a play or he doesn’t,” answered Roberts when asked how difficult it would be for Lux to potentially play center field.
“So like I said, he’ll be in there. I just don’t know where.”
Including the postseason, Lux has only made seven starts, which trails the 12 under his belt in left field.
“Center field is definitely a little more comfortable, being middle of the field. Playing second and short, center, I feel like reads off the bat are a little bit better compared to the corners,” Lux said after Game 4.
“But it’s been a pretty big adjustment. I’ve never really played out there before, so a lot of early work and I got a lot of early work in OKC too. So it’s been a little bit of a grind but it’s been fun. Kind of look at it as like a process almost, so it’s been a lot of fun.”
Lux focused on Dodgers’ goal
Getting a chance to contribute during the postseason is not lost on Lux, but he isn’t concerned with individual success unless it comes within the context of the team winning.
“In my mind, if you do what’s best for the team and that comes first, the other individual statistics or any of that will take care of itself,” Lux said. “So it’s team first and everything else will kind of fall into place and take care of itself, but it’s all team first right now.
“There’s no individual thoughts at all.”
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