The Los Angels Dodgers optioned infielder and top prospect Gavin Lux this afternoon. He will not be on the team’s Opening Day roster.
On the one hand there is a baseball explanation for this in that Lux was a late arrival to Dodgers’ camp due to unspecified reasons. A few moments ago Sam Dykstra of MiLB.com reported that, yesterday, Dave Roberts said the club was working on Lux’s swing and that he might need more time to get right.
On the other hand, Lux there are no actual games for Lux to play in the minor leagues and one has to wonder how one can truly get their swing right while taking BP and playing low-powered intrasquad games at best. Either way, it’s hard to ignore the fact that keeping Lux off the big league roster may very well afford the Dodgers another year of control over the young phenom.
Lux hit a combined .347/.421/.607 with 26 home runs, 76 RBI, and 99 runs scored in 523 plate appearances between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City last year. He played 23 games with the Dodgers at the end of the season and thus still would have rookie status once he rejoins the big club.
