When the Los Angeles Dodgers departed for a six-game road trip at the beginning of the week, their taxi squad consisted of Rocky Gale, Tony Gonsolin, Gavin Lux, Luke Raley and Mitch White. Manager Dave Roberts said the group would remain unchanged through the weekend.
There nonetheless has been movement, as White was recalled in a corresponding move to placing Walker Buehler on the 10-day injured list because of a blister on his right hand. That prevented Buehler from making his scheduled start Thursday, which wound up being the second game of a doubleheader.
And because the Dodgers played a twinbill, they and the San Francisco Giants were permitted to add a 29th player to their active roster. L.A. opted for Lux, marking the first time he joined the team this season.
Lux started at second base and hit eighth, though went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in the Dodgers’ 2-0 win. His time on the active roster as Lux returned to the taxi squad. “We’ll see what we’re going to do with Gavin over the weekend,” Roberts said.
He’d previously indicated the former National League Rookie of the Year candidate was closing in on being recalled. Lux reported late to Summer Camp for an undisclosed reason and struggled at the plate during intrasquad games and scrimmages.
That led to getting optioned to the Dodgers’ alternate training site at USC before Opening Day. Roberts explained the team was hopeful Lux would benefit from being able to work on his swing outside of a game environment, and more recently refuted the idea service time was behind the Dodgers’ decision.
No plans to change taxi
With White now on the active roster, the Dodgers theoretically could fill the open spot on their taxi squad for the three-game weekend series with the Texas Rangers. However, logistics make it unlikely as the Dodgers head from San Francisco to Arlington.
“If you’re talking about the travel to get him there, it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Roberts noted.
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