Dodgers recall infielder Gavin Lux for second time this week
The Dodgers recalled top prospect Gavin Lux on Saturday, adding the 22-year-old infielder to the major league roster for the second time this week.
Reliever Mitch White was optioned in a corresponding move.
Lux, the No. 2 prospect in baseball according to MLB.com, didn’t make the opening day roster after reporting late to training camp and has spent most of the season at the team’s alternate training site at USC.
He made his season debut Thursday, joining the Dodgers as the extra man for a doubleheader against the Giants. In the second game that day, he went hitless in three at-bats with two strikeouts.
Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts narrated a profound and pointed video that was shared by MLB’s social media accounts on Jackie Robinson Day.
Lux was kept on the Dodgers’ taxi squad and traveled with the team to Texas for this weekend’s series.
Lux made his MLB debut last September and hit .240 in 23 games with two home runs and nine RBIs. He also appeared in four postseason games, going two for nine in the National League Division Series with a home run.
A first-round draft pick in 2016, Lux hit .305 in four minor league seasons with an .866 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
Lux will hit eighth and play second base on Saturday with the Dodgers set to face Texas Rangers right-hander Lance Lynn. Manager Dave Roberts said the plan is for Lux to mainly face right-handed pitching moving forward.
“[His swing] has really come along,” Roberts said. “Gavin, to his credit, has put the work in at the secondary site, cleaned up his swing, taken a lot of at-bats, and feels in sync. We got him in a game in San Francisco, which is good to break him in.”
Justin Turner was replaced in the Saturday lineup by Max Muncy at third base and third in the batting order. Turner exited Friday’s game in the seventh inning with a left hamstring injury that Roberts described on Saturday as a low-grade strain. Turner won’t play Sunday either and will be re-evaluted after Monday’s off-day.
“He’s doing better today,” Roberts said. “I don’t see it as a one-day thing. I think today he’s going to go with rest, recovery, treat it up and probably do the same tomorrow.”
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