2024 Dodgers in evaluation: Gavin Lux

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Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos by means of Getty Images After missing the whole 2023 season because of a torn ACL, Gavin Lux's go back to Major League Baseball was rather the trip. Ahead of spring training, Lux was appointed as the key shortstop for the Dodgers, with Miguel Rojas acting as his understudy. It was a rough change for the infielder, as Lux's throws from the left side of the infield would consistently bounce in front of Freddie Freeman, leading manager Dave Roberts to have Mookie Betts assume responsibilities at shortstop and have Lux transfer to 2nd base, with only a little bit greater than a week staying in spring training. On the offensive front, Lux done well in 13 springtime training games, slashing.297/.350/.378 with a crowning achievement and 6 RBIs. When the regular period rolled about Red Sox Jerseys, Lux stumbled out of the gate to the song of a. 182/.241/.208 reduce line with simply 2 extra-base hits both being increases) and five RBIs at the end of April. His very early offensive result minimal Lux to rather sparse playing time early in the period, as the most games he played in consecutively to begin the year was a four game stretch from March 30 with April 2. As the climate expanded warmer in the month of Might, so did Lux's production at home plate. Lux swatted his first home run of the period off of Miami Marlins' reliever George Soriano on May 7. It was his first routine period home run hit in 631 days, going back to August 15, 2022. Gavin huge fly! He added three increases and 2 triples to his relatively solid month of May, raising his season OPS from a disappointing.462 to a more reputable.560 clip still no place near league average). Comparable outcomes lingered in the month of June, with Lux including just another crowning achievement to his period total, with his batting standard and OPS climbing from.209 to.221 and from.560 to.571. It was a brutal very first half for the previous preliminary pick, however nearly magically, the potential the Dodgers had always seen within him started to grow, and in the second half, he developed into among the extra premiere bats in the entire organization. Lux informed Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic in August that over the All-Star break he checked out video clips of his old, great swings, and discovered that deliberately swinging more challenging was his path forward. After going hitless in the very first game of the second fifty percent against the Boston Red Sox, Lux crushed a solo home run versus Red Sox starter Brayan Bello, complying with up with a dual to offer him two extra-base hits on the game. It was the very first time that he had multiple extra-base hits in a game in over three years, going back to June 11, 2021 against the Texas Rangers. Gavin strikes initially! He complied with up that performance the complying with day with a three-hit performance, where he added one more 2 extra-base hits to his season total, being a crowning achievement and a dual. In late July, very first baseman Freddie Freeman remained in Los Angeles to tend to his three-year-old kid, Maximus, that at the time had actually recently been detected with short-term synovitis-- it was later figured out that he was experiencing from Guillain-Barre syndrome. With Freeman away from the group as they set up a three-game series in Houston, along with Mookie Betts still on the damaged checklist as a result of a fractured hand, Lux was elevated right up to 3rd in the Dodgers lineup, behind the similarity Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernndez. In the three games against the Houston Astros, Lux collected 4 hits in eight at bats, adding his fourth crowning achievement of the month in the final video game of the series. By month's end, Lux raised his home run total amount from simply two to six, raised his batting average approximately.239 and elevated his OPS by 90 indicate a. 656 clip. After resembling an edge big organization hitter who placed as one of the worst hitters in the very first fifty percent of the season, Lux played like an All-Star that ranked as one of the best players in the second fifty percent. Lux slashed.304/.391/.508 with seven crowning achievement, 26 RBIs, 16 increases, and 31 runs racked up over his final 61 video games of the period. Among all qualified hitters in the second fifty percent, Lux's.304 typical rated 12th in all of baseball, even more than future NL MVP Shohei Ohtani, that struck.302 in the second half. His 152 wRC+ after the All-Star break placed 13th among all qualified players. After publishing an unfavorable fWAR in the initial half, Lux uploaded a solid 2.0 fWAR in the second half, which netted him a reputable 1.5 fWAR overall on the season. In the postseason, Lux wasn't a substantial cog in the Dodgers' lineup over the initial three video games, but connected for a two-run home run off of San Diego Padres' southpaw Wandy Peralta in Game 4 of the NLDS. It was his very first postseason home run given that Game 1 of the 2019 NLDS versus the eventual Globe Collection winning Washington experienced a hip flexor injury in Game 1 of the NLCS versus the New York Mets, and was ruled out for Games 2, 4, and 6 of the collection as the Dodgers faced left-handed starting bottles. After being an offending responsibility throughout the first four games of the Globe Collection against the New York City Yankees, Lux connected for a sacrifice fly off of Yankees' better Luke Weaver that tied up the score at 6-6 in the top of the eighth inning. A Mookie Betts sacrifice fly offered the Dodgers the lead that helped them eventually win the Globe Series. 2024 details Age: 26 Stats:.251/.320/.383, 100 wRC+, 10 HUMAN RESOURCES, 50 RBI, 24 2B, 59 R, 2.1 rWAR, 1.5 fWAR Salary: $1, 225, 000 Video game of the year Lux's ideal game of the 2024 season began July 21 versus the Boston Red Sox, where he accumulated 3 hits, including a crowning achievement and a dual. It was the very first time in the period that his OPS mored than.600, and it was the very first time in his career that he collected two successive video games with several extra-base hits. Roster status Lux has 4 years, 114 days of service time and is qualified for salary adjudication for the second time. He's projected by MLB Trade Rumors to earn $2.7 million in 2025, while Cot's Baseball Agreements jobs Lux to make $3.225 million.