Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> drafted 42nd overall with the competitive-balance pick the Reds traded (with a Class A outfielder) for Lux in January.<\/p>\nAs far as the Reds are concerned, the answer should come in the next couple of months when they see the full-season impact Lux has on their playoff ambitions.<\/p>\n
For now, with the Dodgers in town this week for the Reds\u2019 first look at the defending champs, the Reds like the impact of the versatile, lefty-hitting Lux on a team that rode a 10-4 heater into the big series at Great American Ball Park \u2014 Lux going 11-for-31 (.355) with a .375 on-base percentage over his last nine games during that stretch.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a great kid. He\u2019s done a really good job. And we\u2019re thrilled he\u2019s here,\u201d Reds manager Terry Francona said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of an understatement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dodgers\u2019 former first-round draft pick was part of Reds offseason that emphasized bringing in veterans familiar with October baseball, including catcher Jose Trevino in a trade from the Yankees and left-fielder Austin Hays as a free agent.<\/p>\n
Lux wasn\u2019t expected to be Juan Soto. Or even the kind of additions Nick Castellanos or Jeimer Candelario were touted to be when the Reds signed them in recent years. He\u2019s mostly a platoon starter who hits right-handers especially well.<\/p>\n
But he knows winning. And he knows hitting.<\/p>\n
And former Dodgers teammates know that well.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuxy was always a super talented player,\u201d Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. \u201cAs we\u2019ve seen with multiple people, sometimes a change of scenery is all that you need.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying in L.A. is not easy,\u201d Muncy added. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of expectations, a lot of pressure. Sometimes you can lost in that a little bit, and I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s what happened to Luxy\u00a0 or not. But it\u2019s one of those things where, for me, you always knew what kind of player he could be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not that Lux was especially lost in his career. Or that he\u2019s necessarily found now in any profound way. Or even that he could benefit from a change of scenery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no clue for me it it\u2019s helped or it hasn\u2019t,\u201d Lux said. \u201cAll I know is I feel really comfortable with these guys in this clubhouse and the staff. It\u2019s been fun to be part of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lux, who has two World Series rings with the Dodgers, was made available a year after missing all of 2023 because of a knee injury when the Dodgers closed a deal with South Korean free agent second baseman Hyeseong Kim ($12.5 million, three years) a few days before sending Lux to the Reds.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never quite reached that potential with us, but it doesn\u2019t mean that anyone in here gave up on him,\u201d Muncy said. \u201cEveryone in here knew that he could be a special player.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the Reds opened the Dodgers series with Lux batting fifth as the DH, the Kenosha, Wisconsin, native was on pace for career highs in games, hits and walks, with a .271 average within five points of a career high and a .355 on-base percentage that would be a career-high if he sustains it.<\/p>\n
\u201cGavin has the hit tool. He\u2019s always had it,\u201d Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. \u201cI just feel that the change of scenery was going to free him up and allow him to get to another level. It\u2019s nice when it\u2019s a win-win for both organizations, and I couldn\u2019t be more excited to see the success he\u2019s having.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really excited about the guys that we acquired, and I\u2019m happy he\u2019s playing for Tito and he\u2019s thriving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Change of scenery again?<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, the big market is a pressure cooker at times,\u201d Lux said. \u201cAs a younger guy it took me awhile to not put so much pressure oh myself, where it felt like at times when I was younger, even at times last year coming off the injury, it was like if I don\u2019t perform I\u2019m not going to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
The change to a new team in a different market hasn\u2019t changed any of the drive or effort that showed up in a hot second half last year after he regained confidence in his surgically repaired knee.<\/p>\n
But maybe something as simple as a fresh start has provided a benefit, especially in a place with more potential opportunities to contribute.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, it\u2019s a little bit different,\u201d Lux said. \u201cBut I think that I\u2019ve just learned over the years how I operate and that when I\u2019m playing free without worry and just enjoying and having fun and playing baseball \u2013 as clich\u00e9 as that sounds \u2013 that\u2019s when I\u2019m at my best.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that self-awareness has helped me a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cI can catch myself now when I start to stress over a couple of at-bats. And I don\u2019t go down that roller coaster of emotions. I think it just took me a while to learn that. But the environment is definitely part of that, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s any question about whether Lux has hard feelings toward the team that traded him after winning a World Series last year, that question fades quickly talking to members of the mutual admiration club of Lux and guys in the Dodgers clubhouse.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally had a great relationship with Gavin,\u201d said Dodgers coach Dino Ebel, who worked with Lux on the infield in recent years and still texts with him \u2013 and who\u2019s known as \u201cUncle Dino\u201d to Lux. \u201cWe all believed he could hit. We believe it\u2019s in there. That\u2019s why he was our No. 1 pick. I\u2019m glad it\u2019s starting to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Lux: \u201cI\u2019ve got nothing but love for everyone over there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lux, 27, is in his professional athletic prime with another year of club control for the Reds.<\/p>\n
Wherever this year goes for him and the Reds \u2013 or next year for that matter \u2013 about the only thing that\u2019s clear is the shared vision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told Tito the first day of spring: \u2018I don\u2019t care where you play me. Just throw me out there, and I\u2019ll try to find a way to get it down and help the team win.\u2019 That\u2019s really all I care about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nick Lodolo shuts out Washington Nationals, Reds avoid sweep Cincinnati Reds LHP Nick Lodolo (8-6, 3.08 ERA) pitched…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":105391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[4231,5027,359,42771,591,1582,276,10620,67824,10595,5048,2442,17745,10598,10625,42769,10619,7076,5203,10630,1631,3693,2961,4230,224,2502,5337,10599,20420,8327,8331,635,2228,50,10604,3682,1539,450,1457,1451,10596,6166,31966,62,1458,17744,6373,10609,4280,67825,103,25454,2386,636],"class_list":{"0":"post-105390","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-angeles","9":"tag-arkansas","10":"tag-austin","11":"tag-austin-hays","12":"tag-baseball","13":"tag-ca","14":"tag-california","15":"tag-candelario","16":"tag-castellanos","17":"tag-cincinnati","18":"tag-cincinnati-reds","19":"tag-dodgers","20":"tag-francona","21":"tag-gavin","22":"tag-gavin-lux","23":"tag-hays","24":"tag-jeimer","25":"tag-jeimer-candelario","26":"tag-jose","27":"tag-jose-trevino","28":"tag-juan","29":"tag-juan-soto","30":"tag-la","31":"tag-los","32":"tag-los-angeles","33":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","34":"tag-losangeles","35":"tag-lux","36":"tag-max","37":"tag-max-muncy","38":"tag-muncy","39":"tag-new","40":"tag-new-york-yankees","41":"tag-news","42":"tag-nick","43":"tag-nick-castellanos","44":"tag-of","45":"tag-overall","46":"tag-overall-positive","47":"tag-positive","48":"tag-reds","49":"tag-series","50":"tag-soto","51":"tag-sports","52":"tag-sports-news","53":"tag-terry","54":"tag-terry-francona","55":"tag-trevino","56":"tag-university","57":"tag-university-of-arkansas","58":"tag-world","59":"tag-world-series","60":"tag-yankees","61":"tag-york"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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