Dave Roberts wasn’t quite ready to bench a struggling second baseman Gavin Lux in favor of Kike Hernandezbut Lux was beginning to test the patience of the The Dodgers the manager as his slump dragged on into a third week and the playoffs approached.
Lux was one of baseball’s best hitters for seven weeks after the All-Star break, batting .347 with a 1.043 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, seven homers, 14 doubles and 21 RBIs in 40 games from July 20 to Sept. 4. But that bat broke down this month, with the left-handed Lux hitting .111 (four for 36) with a .378 OPS, no extra-base hits and three RBIs in 16 games from Sept. 6 through Tuesday night.
With Hernández hitting .291 with an .855 OPS, four homers, three doubles and 10 RBIs in 22 games since Aug. 23, has Roberts considered giving the right-handed hitting Hernández more starts against righties?
“It’s been a tough stretch for Gavin, but I think his work since he started has been very good, and I’m going to give him every chance to start against right-handers in the playoffs,” Roberts said before Wednesday night’s game against the San Diego Padres.
“I think his mindset has remained the same, and it’s my job to continue to give him confidence. Having Kiké available in any position is huge, but that’s not what concerns me at the moment.”
Roberts’ faith in Lux was rewarded Wednesday night when Lux hit a game-tying single to center field with two outs in the fourth inning and singled in the eighth inning of a 4-3 victory over the Padres that pushed the Dodgers to the brink of their 11th National League West title in 12 years.
“I’m trying to have a good mentality, I want to be in that position, I can get a big hit with two outs and I’m not afraid to mess it up,” Lux said after the Dodgers extended their division lead to three games with four games to play. “You know, I just want that opportunity and I’m taking it.”
“It’s a playoff mentality. You have to do everything you can to win and be competitive, forget how bad you are and just go out and play baseball.”
The Dodgers trailed 2-1 in the fourth inning when Tommy Edman hit a two-out double to right-center field. Lux took two walks before launching a 95 mph fastball from Dylan Cease to center field to score Edman and tie it 2-2. Shohei Ohtani capped the rally with a double to right field for a 3-2 lead.
“He made me look good tonight,” Roberts said of Lux. “I trust him. I trust all our guys. Tommy was in trouble, and he made a big shot, and Gavin was really helpful for us tonight.”
Lux missed all of last season after tearing two ligaments in his right knee in a baserunning accident in spring training, and he acknowledged taking care of his surgically repaired knee in his return this season. The result was a more hesitant swing and produced more soft contact, leading to a .213 average, a .563 OPS, three homers, eight doubles and 24 RBIs in 78 games before the All-Star break.
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Lux adjusted his mindset and approach in the week leading up to the break — “I don’t think it’s a swing change, I’m just trying to be more aggressive, and when I get a good pitch to hit, I swing at it,” he said — and the results were almost immediate.
Lux was voted National League Player of the Week early in the second half of the season and continued to dominate the league until early September, when he entered a deep depression.
“There’s a little bit of passivity at times with the breaking balls early in the game, there’s more swinging and missing, and probably a little bit more chasing,” Roberts said. “I’d like to think there’s no loss of confidence.”
Lux didn’t think his attacking mentality had faltered, but opposing pitchers began to attack him differently.
“I’ve got a lot of backdoor rotations, tons of changeups and splits,” Lux said. “It’s this cat-and-mouse game where you take one thing away and then you move on to what you’re not hitting. I was probably too slow to adapt and got stuck in the middle. But I think I’m moving in the right direction and finding a game plan and approach that’s working.”
Lux, a .203 hitter with a .555 OPS in 279 career plate appearances against lefties, has had a particularly tough time against them this season, hitting .156 with a .402 OPS in 49 plate appearances, struggles that have reduced him to a platoon role with Hernández and Chris Taylor.
“Any baseball player will tell you the more you’re on the field, the more you get into a good rhythm, the more you feel things,” Lux said. “But at the end of the day, I can’t make excuses. I have to be better against lefties if I want to be on the field every day.”
The Dodgers have been in a division battle with San Diego and Arizona all summer, so Roberts didn’t have the luxury of giving Lux a longer leash against lefties.
“It’s tough for a hitter not to get those looks, but I think, quite frankly, we’ve had better options (against lefties),” Roberts said. “I think Gavin is going to hit left-handed pitchers, and going forward, he’s going to be an everyday player. But I think his performance this year, it’s more my fault, given his lack of opportunities.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
