Bo Who?
Since the 2016 First-Year player Draft, Dodger fans have been questioning the first selection made by Andrew Friedman and friends. That selection was none other than shortstop Gavin Lux who is currently pushing for a spot on the Dodgers postseason roster. When we questioned the pick we, of course, did not have the inside information that Director of Amateur Scouting Billy Gasparino and his team had. Yet, it seemed to
Since the 2016 First-Year player Draft, Dodger fans have been questioning the first selection made by Andrew Friedman and friends. That selection was none other than shortstop Gavin Lux who is currently pushing for a spot on the Dodgers postseason roster. When we questioned the pick we, of course, did not have the inside information that Director of Amateur Scouting Billy Gasparino and his team had. Yet, it seemed to be a pick that did not add up to us.
One reason that it did not seem to be the best possible option was that another shortstop, Bo Bichette, was available at the time that Lux was selected with the 20th overall pick. The plot thickens when we look back and observe that Bichette was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays with the 66th pick. It thickens because Will Smith (32), Jordan Sheffield (36) and Mitchell White (65) were also selected by the Dodgers before Bichette came off the board. So, it wasn’t a Lux or Bichette only option. It was a Lux, or Smith, or Sheffield, or White option.
Dodger fans were not the only ones questioning the Gavin Lux first-round selection.
“Internally and externally, there always seemed to be a little bit of doubt when you talked to people about it,” Dodgers scouting director Billy Gasparino said. “We (the scouting department) never felt it, but I know it existed.”
Both shortstops started the 2016 season in rookie ball with the 6’0”/185-pound Bichette in the Gulf Coast League and the 6’2’-190-pound Lux in the Arizona League. Lux is three and one-half months older than Bichette. After that Bichette seemed to move more quickly through the Blue Jay system and arrived in Toronto on July 7 in the current campaign. He went on a bit of a tear highlighting a missed opportunity by 29 other MLB teams.
Going back a bit, Gavin Lux, who bats left and throws right, had an acceptable 2016 season with the AZL Dodgers and Ogden Raptors. He followed that with a very disappointing 2017 campaign with the Great Lakes Loons, especially when compared to Bichette who was also in the Midwest League with the Lansing Lugnuts.
Something happened during the 2018 season as Gavin Lux seemed to take flight. Between the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (88 games) and Tulsa Drillers (28 games), he posted a triple slash of .324/.399/.514 with a .904 OPS along with 15 home runs and 57 RBI. He struck out 88 times and had 57 walks. Meanwhile with the AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats 131 games) Bichette’s slash line was .286/.343/.453 with an OPS of .796 along with 11 home runs and 74 RBI. He struck out 101 times and had 48 walks.
So what happened that the young shortstop began to blossom during the 2017 season? Gavin Lux happened. What the Dodgers saw in his athleticism and determination vaulted him to the front of the line. That is, to number one in the Dodgers top 30. What Dodger scout Trey Magnuson initially saw in the Kenosha Wisconsin native simply took root.
Baseball America reported that Lux was aware of the questions surrounding him but simply shut out the chatter and went to work. When he was drafted he was a skinny kid at about 165 pounds. He added 10 pounds of muscle heading into 2018 and another 15 as he prepared for this season. He spent hundreds of hours deprogramming his natural swing and replacing it with a modified version that put him on a better plane with the ball.
His fielding work began in the wee hours of the winter mornings at the Dodgers’ complex in Glendale, Ariz., and stretched long into the afternoons. The same resilience Magnuson saw in Lux as an amateur grew in professional ball, in the form of a relentless work ethic to ensure he would never struggle again as he had in his first two years of pro ball.
In 113 games at Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2019, Lux hit .347 to rank fourth in the minors, while his .421 on-base percentage ranked 10th and his .607 slugging percentage placed sixth. In terms of OPS, he ranked fourth (1.028) overall, behind only Kevin Cron, Jared Walsh and Mark Payton, a trio of older, bat-first players at Triple-A.
Bichette went to Toronto after some time on the IL in 2019 and 56 games at AAA Buffalo. I expect a comparison at AAA is not apt as Bichette has hit well in 38 games with the Blue Jays. However, below are their AAA stats for 2019.
Bichette 56 games, 35 runs 8 HR, 32 RBI, .275/.333/.473, 806 OPS
Lux 49 games, 54 runs, 13 HR, 39 RBI, .392/.478/.719, 1.197 OPS
Lux is getting his first taste of MLB so we will have to wait and see how the rest of the season plays out for him.
In the meantime, he has been selected as the 2019 Baseball America Minor League Baseball Player Of The Year. The last two winners of the recognition were Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays) in 2018 and Ronald Acuna (Braves) in 2017. Ever confident, Lux has been a bit surprised by his rapid ascent up the baseball ladder.
“Obviously I feel like I always believed in myself, but I don’t think I would have expected two years ago to play like how I am now, I guess you could say,” Lux said in the Baseball America piece by Kyle Glaser. “It is a little surreal. I’m just enjoying it and having fun every step of the way and taking advantage of it.”
This season, Texas League managers have voted Lux as the league’s best batting prospect, best defensive shortstop and most exciting player.
What do others on the scene say about Gavin Lux?
“He was doing things not only our guys here were talking about,” Oklahoma City manager Travis Barbary said, “ but you see the reaction in the other dugout and they’re like, ‘Man, this guy is unbelievable.”
“You talked to everybody around—the coaches, the principal, everyone in the office—everybody was glowing about Gavin and who he was as a person as well as a player,” Dodger scout Trey Magnuson said.
But what about the guy who ultimately has the final say with Dodger rosters and players? That would be Andrew Friedman, President, Baseball Operations. I don’t think I have heard Friedman lavish as much praise on any other player, certainly not one yet a full-fledged MLB player. It is a testament to his determination, confidence and work ethic that has drawn such praise.
“Each year in spring training we lay out some goals (for our players) for the year,” Andrew Friedman said.“It’s great in theory. It rarely plays out in practice. But it truly did with Gavin. Every time we gave him goals and things to work on, he poured himself into it and has steadily gotten better at all aspects of his game.”
Friedman does not talk about Lux’s baseball IQ, or at least use that term, but his comments reveal a feel for the game that Lux possesses that is far from typical for 21-year-old players.
“His approach in the box is the most mature I’ve ever been around in someone this age,” Friedman recently told the Los Angeles Times. “Just his awareness of what pitchers are trying to do, taking feedback from an at-bat or pitch-to-pitch, how to apply it to what his plan of attack is—it’s something I’ve seen a lot of major league players struggle with throughout their careers. It’s very rare to be able to see someone his age to be able to slow down the game and understand that cat and mouse game between the hitter and the pitcher in such an advanced way.”
As Mark would say, “We are in for some kinda’ ride!”, with Gavin Lux.
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Discussion (59)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Congrats to Kenley for representing the Dodgers for the Roberto Clemente award. Like so many of his Dodger teammates they are even bigger stars off the field than on it! It’s easy to root for such a great group of young men!
I have been extremely impressed by what I’ve seen of Gavin Lux (both MILB and MLB) this year, and was impressed by what I saw of Bo Bichette. My guess is that they both have very bright futures in front of them, and I wish we had both. At this early stage I am not going to rate one above the other, and will simply let time do its thing over the long run.
Is Lux post-season ready? Who knows? Seager wasn’t in 2015, but neither were the Dodgers as a team that year. I’m not even sure what the Dodgers as a team will do in this upcoming post-season. It feels more comfortable when the team is playing well going into the post-season than it does when they’re not. However, in 2015 the Dodgers entered the NLDS having won their last 4 games of the regular season before being swept by the Mets (living in NY, I hate to say that). The 2017 Dodgers had an 11 game losing streak at the beginning of September, and still managed to advance to game 7 of the WS, and were one Kenley Jansen hanging slider away from taking a 2-0 WS lead and a possible World Championship that would likely not have required a game 7.
No matter how the Dodgers are playing now, everything will matter with how they’re playing when they get to the post-season. Since I’m not clairvoyant, I just HOPE that the Dodgers will be hitting on all cylinders when crunch time arrives.
The
At the time I believe AC and Mark considered Lux a wasted pick. Maybe then it seemed that way. I think this gives a hint as to the effort the organization puts into identifying character traits – and I’m sure they have a data-centric system for this, too. This is sometimes more important than skill because it gives an indication to the ability to take instruction, learn and adapt. In his first year he underwhelmed. He transformed himself physically and totally remade his swing. At first it was a failure, but he methodically stuck with it and bought in and eventually the instruction and repetition took hold. He’a a completely different player than he was when he was drafted.
Maybe it’s not too late for Joc, but he stands in stark relief to what Lux has done. His attempts to remake his swing every year have been awkward, short lived and disorganized and disregarded.
I’d prefer a Lux over a Bichette. I don’t care if Bichette has a higher ceiling. Lux’s work ethic and baseball understanding suggest a longer, more consistent career and better success under pressure.
Actually, Lux could also be a bust. Just don’t know
Nice read DC! Happy to have you out from under the wind storm! Glad you came out relatively unscathed.
I have always been a Gavin Lux fan. I remember watching him being interviewed by Alanna Rizzo at the Dodger’s Fan Fest a couple of years back. I was struck by how articulate. He came across as a very well grounded young man who was willing to put in the work to become the best that he could be. Like SoCalBum, I have been surprised by his physical transformation. In the same interview with Rizzo, they should some film clips of Lux working out. He was ripped! It appears that he might have the same muscular genes as his father, who also appears to be in very good shape. He also has good baseball genes as his uncle, Augie Schmidt played in the minor leagues for the Blue Jays, Giants and Twins. Schmidt is now the head baseball coach at Carthage College. Schmidt’s father had been the head coach there from 1962 through 1980. Baseball seems to run in their family.
Don’t know whether Lux will be on the PS roster, he hasn’t exactly torn it up in his debut. I think eventually he’ll be an above average MLB player. Not every player takes the league by storm right off the bat. So still hoping the Dodgers get on a nice winning streak leading up to the PS. GO DODGERS
Lux has the look and feel of a cornerstone piece for the Dodgers! A franchise face along with Seager, Belly, Buehler. Future looks very bright.
Is Bo the son of Dante?
Very nice DC.
Blue Jays took two players before Bichette; RH pitcher Timothy Zeuch, and outfielder J.B. Woodman. Neither player has wowed anyone with their respective minor league careers (Woodman has yet to advance above HiA ball where he hit .246 in 2019. Interesting trivia; both Lux and Bichette were committed to play college ball at Arizona State.
I’m guessing the extensive background checks the Dodgers do when making a high pick had something to do with drafting him. I remember reading a scouting report that referred to his baseball IQ, his work ethic etc. As is often the case, the Dodgers got it right. What really surprised me is not landing Guerrero Jr. Maybe they didn’t pursue him. But with all the money they were tossing around on the international market, it seemed like a natural fit. Pretty much every scouting report had him as a big time hitting prospect. So far, the money they spent hasn’t paid off. They lost Vlad Sr. back in the day over $500. But, hey they signed Wilton.
What a nice article on Gavin Lux, DC. I am not that knowledgeable about all the minor league players, so did not know all the information and stats on Bo Bichette, but he also sounds like a star-in-the-making. I will repeat my comment after the game last night. I watched Gavin sing the words to “God Bless America”. It told me a lot about his character.
Well, I thought that Lux was a bad pick at the time and after 2017, I especially thought that. Gasparino knew what he was doing, however. Hopefully, Jeren Kendall can turn it around as well.
Bo Bichette has the same rap as Alex Verdugo did; A Bad Attitude. Verdugo moved past it and Bo will need to do that too.. BP had an article where they wrote this about him:
Some were concerned with Bo’s attitude, referring to him as a brat, or a prima donna, among other things.
I still have memories of Bichette burned into my head, memories that are difficult to ignore when viewing him in the present. I know he has all of the tools and ability in the world, I have seen him make all the plays, and that might be distracting me from some of his faults and errors.
Gavin Lux has none of that baggage – maybe Bichette has a higher ceiling than Lux, but I am now a Gavin Lux fan.
The Drillers tied their series at 1-1 with Amarillo. After going down 8-3 in the first inning they came away with an 18-9 win. At the end of the night, the Drillers had hit a total of 9 home runs – Downs (3), Casey (2), Parmalee, Rincon, Thomas, Estevez.
Downs had a record-setting night of his own, matching the Drillers single-game record with three homers. It marked the first time that a Tulsa player (Drillers or Oilers) has ever hit three home runs in a playoff game. Downs has hit a total of eight home runs in Double-A this season and all eight have come against Amarillo. He becomes the second Drillers player to hit three homers in a game this season, joining Cody Thomas who did it on April 17 against Springfield.
Downs, Wong and Casey each had four-hit games. Tulsa had players get four hits in a game only seven times all season long.
Downs scored a Drillers season-high five runs in the game.
Wong and Casey have each hit in all seven games of the postseason. During those seven games, Wong is 9-27 (.333) with two homers and nine RBI, while Casey is 10-28 (.357) with three homers and six RBI.
The Raptors still don’t know who they will face in the Pioneer Championship round after two rain outs with Billings and Idaho falls.
Just to be clear, I mean no disrespect to Bo Bichette. I have watched him play some with the Jays and he is an exciting young player. He plays with a flair both at bat and in the field. I surely would like for him to be a Dodger and I agree with AC that at this point he is a notch above Gavin.
After reading about Gavin and how he has willed himself to get better I expect he will continue to do so at the MLB level. I don’t know if he will be immediately impactful as Bo is but I do know he will become impactful and in due course we will be as confident in the draft choice as Billy Gasparino is.
“The external or internal doubts just makes this a little more satisfactory,” Gasparino said. “But more just for his own sake, you kind of love the kid. How hard he’s worked and how genuine of a person he is, it’s made it extremely satisfying to see this happen to him.”
Lux is well grounded. The mental part of the game has always been one of his strengths. His uncle Augie Schmidt was the Golden Spikes Award winner and No. 2 overall pick in 1982. Schmidt is now in his 33rd season as the head coach at Division III Carthage College in Lux’s hometown of Kenosha, Wis., about 40 miles south of Milwaukee.
“A lot of what we (his uncle Augie) talk about is how to deal with failure,” Lux said. “He’s kind of been my rock and who I go to when it comes to baseball. He’s kind of gone through it all, so he’s been everything to me.”
Augie was in attendance when Gavin lined the first MLB pitch he saw for a hit. His uncle shed tears of happiness as Gavin stood on first base.