During the Dodgers’ 2020 Championship season, there were a lot of players who elevated their game to the next level. For instance, Corey Seager stepped up and showed the type of player he really is when he’s healthy. Other less established players such as Tony Gonsolin, Victor Gonzalez, Brusdar Graterol, etc. have all taken the next steps in their development.
However, not every player had the season that they had hoped for. Gavin Lux who was the Dodgers’ top prospect heading into the season was a heavy favorite to win the Rookie of the Year Award. Instead, the now 23-year old second baseman showed up to camp late and did not look like himself. Even after spending some time at the team’s alternate training site, his call-up was disappointing, to say the least. In 19 games with the big league club, he managed a poor .175 batting average while striking out a whopping 19 times.
While that could easily turn people against the former top prospect, all hope shouldn’t be lost. In fact, Bleacher Report predicts that Gavin Lux could be at least the 5th best second baseman in the league by 2025. Many great players have stalled out during their first taste of the big leagues. Lux has only played in 42 career games thus far which is a small sample size. Mike Trout performed almost similarly to Lux through his first 40 games, yet the Angels never moved on from him.
- Gavin Lux (first 42 games): .210/.278/.377 slash line, 5 home runs, 17 RBIs, and 43 strikeouts
- Mike Trout (first 40 games): .220/.281/.390 slash line, 5 home runs, 16 RBIs, and 30 strikeouts
https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1307117388056481793?s=20
Now, I’m not saying that Lux and Trout are on the same level nor will be, but both started off below expectations. We also can’t forget what he did in the Minors during the 2019 season either. In 113 games he hit .347 with 26 home runs. While he has a lot of work to do on both sides of the ball, the potential is still there for him to turn things around and develop into one of the best second basemen in the game.
