The Gavin Lux era comes to an end

He was traded to the Reds on Monday

It was an up-and-down journey, but the Gavin Lux era has officially come to an end in Los Angeles. On Monday, the Dodgers traded the infielder to the Reds for a prospect and a 2025 draft pick.

The trade doesn’t come as a total shock, as Lux’s name was being mentioned in numerous trade discussions in the days leading up to the move. Still, the Dodgers’ front office was pretty vocal this offseason that Lux would be part of the plans in 2025. Just goes to show that this is a business and anything can happen.

Lux’s career with the Dodgers will always be one big WHAT IF

He was drafted by the Dodgers in the first round of the 2016 MLB Draft. He quickly rose through the system and was considered to be one of the top prospects in all of baseball. By the time he made his MLB debut in 2019, Lux was considered by some outlets to be the BEST overall prospect in baseball.

As the top prospect in the entire sport, a lot of expectations will follow. Unfortunately for Lux, he never met those sky-high expectations.

He finishes his Dodgers career with a 99 wRC+. Lux was practically a league-average hitter during his stint in LA. That raises the question. With the hype surrounding him entering the league, is being a league-average hitter a success… or a failure?

I personally don’t know.

Lux appeared in only 42 games from 2019-2020. His first real opportunity came in 2021, where he played in 102 games for the Dodgers. In his first real season as a starter, Lux hit .242 with an OPS of .692 and had a 90 wRC+. He hit seven home runs and drove in 46 runs.

Lux took on an even bigger role in 2022, appearing in a career-high 129 games. His numbers were up across the board, as he hit .276 with a .745 OPS and 113 wRC+. Those are really solid numbers in his second full season, but they could have been even better.

Through the middle of August, Lux was actually one of the best hitters on the Dodgers. Through his first 110 games of the season, Lux was hitting .297 with an OPS of .812 and had a 132 wRC+. That is pretty damn good. Like, that is All-Star caliber good.

Unfortunately, a neck injury really hurt his production over the final month of the season. Over his final 19 games of 2022, Lux hit .162 with a .388 OPS and 10 wRC+. That’s why his numbers plummeted as much as they did. Again, overall he still had a really solid 2022 campaign, but the numbers could have looked a lot better had it not been for that stretch where he played hurt.

Entering 2023, Lux was expected to be LA’s starting shortstop. With Corey Seager and Trea Turner finally gone, it was his time to take over. As you all know, Lux suffered a gruesome injury in Spring Training where he tore his ACL. His 2023 season was over before it could officially begin.

After missing all of 2023, Lux was expected to be LA’s starting shortstop in 2024. Sadly, he just couldn’t figure it out during Spring Training. After a number of errors, the Dodgers slid Lux back over to second base and made Mookie Betts the shortstop. Lux would remain at second base for the remainder of the season.

Lux’s 2024 campaign got off to an extremely slow start. When I say slow, I really mean terrible. Halfway through the season, Lux was one of the worst hitters in all of baseball. Through 74 games, Lux was hitting .207 with an OPS of .542 and had a 55 wRC+. This was the worst Lux had ever been.

Then on July 11, everything changed for him.

Over his final 65 games, Lux was one of the best hitters in all of baseball. He went from one of the worst to one of the best. It was by far the best stretch of his Major League career.

Over the final 2.5 months, Lux hit .306 while posting a .903 OPS and 153 wRC+. Those right there are All-Star caliber numbers. This was the version of Lux the Dodgers thought they’d be getting in 2019, 2020, 2021 or 2022. It was just a few years too late.

Lux didn’t really contribute in the postseason at all, as he posted a 68 wRC+ and hit only .176. But, he did have a moment that helped the Dodgers secure a World Series title. His shining moment came in Game 5 of the World Series. Trailing by a run in the eighth inning, Lux hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. That turned out to be his final at bat with the team. What a way to go out.

At the end of the day, it’s tough to grade Lux’s career in LA.

He won two championships, so it’s hard to argue that he didn’t contribute at all. He also had the devastating knee injury in 2023. Who knows what he could have looked like had he not torn his ACL. He could have taken the next step and been even better in 2023 and possibly better in 2024. Unfortunately, we’ll just never know.

Like I said earlier, he was the definition of a league average hitter with a 99 wRC+. While not an All-Star, there is value in having a good player. That’s what Lux was. He was just a good player. Sure, he didn’t quite reach the level of hype that he gave himself after tearing through the minor leagues, but how many players can do that?

I’m bummed his time in LA has come to an end. I really wish we could have seen him thrive and turn into the All-Star caliber player we were all expecting when he debuted six years ago. Best of luck in Cincinnati, Gavin!

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How would you grade Gavin Lux’s career with the Dodgers?