The Dodgers and 2B

The Dodgers have been offensively challenged of late. They need to start hitting better as the season winds down and the playoffs get closer. There will be a sorting out process – they need to know who will be able to contribute and who won’t – thus, they are trying out Lux and giving him a long look. I suspect that they will be giving more AB to Rios as well.

I find it funny that many here seem to be ready to give up on Lux at age 22 with only 92 career AB. I remember that one of the reasons that the Dodgers were willing to trade Paul Konerko for Jeff Shaw was that his career didn’t get off to a good start. In 166 AB for the Dodgers he hit around .200 with 4 HR so they thought he was going to be a bust.

Lux hasn’t started off well but that doesn’t mean that it’s time to give up on him.

If Lux is the long term solution to the 2B problem then an infield with he and Seager looks to be solid for the foreseeable future. If not then maybe Busch is the answer. They don’t need a superstar at each position. Turner won’t be starting for too much longer either. Maybe Busch and Hoese come up around the same time?

Good stuff, AC. Nice analysis of the 2nd base situation. I love Hernandez for his defensive skills and what he brings to the Dodgers. I am also a huge fan of CT3. I was hoping Lux would be a success at 2nd and he has done well defensively, but not offensively so far. It was mentioned that he is from Kenosha, Wisconsin, so maybe that has been weighing on his mind. He just looks overwhelmed at the plate in my opinion, so perhaps next year will be his year.

That said, I think the best person for the majority of playing time at 2nd base is Chris Taylor.

I have been predicting a breakout for Kike for 3 years. It hasn’t happened, but it took Justin Turner until age 29 season to “get it.” Kike will be 29 next season and I do admit that he has more than double the at-bats of JT. There are times when he looks awesome and then like he doesn’t have a clue (offensively).

At 2B, he is an elite defender and very good in CF, LF, and RF. I have this nagging feeling he will “get it” someday. He looked better last night and has his BA “up to” .220. His OB% is an abysmal .255 because he has only walked 4 times in 84 AB’s. Whatever he has done is not working. He needs to change his approach TOTALLY.

Kike, change your thinking – change your life! This guy has so much potential and it is maddening to watch him squander such talent. He is beloved by his teammates, but like Pavlov’s dog, when that pitch flies, he can’t help but salivate and swing…. and pull it! If he could just hit .260, with his power, he would hit 30 HR, but this won’t cut it!

I am not convinced Lux is the answer at 2B. He is most certainly not a MLB SS. Seager is staying at SS for the foreseeable future. Mike Busch may be the answer, but that’s at least 2022. They can put Muncy at 2B and Rios at 1B.

Seager won’t move to third base, I don’t remember where, but I think I already read about moving to third base, and it wasn’t the best solution. I think so!

Nice write up Jeff.

Lux the probably 2nd base solution for the future is not written in stone. Only 22 he has some time to win the position. With more playing time my bet would be this will be a platoon with Taylor next year after Kike moves on. An injury to Seager would slot Lux full time into 2nd with Taylor getting most at SS. With the DH looking like this going to be adopted JT would be a logical choice the get that most of games. Seager moving to 3rd opens things for Lux into next year. Now he needs to hit little bit.

I’m glad Wood has accepted his role as a reliever. His lifetime stats show he’s more effective out of the pen than as a starter.

When JT comes back who will he replace on the roster? Will it be Santana or Lux or Beaty or someone else?

Keith Law on K. Williams:

For Stripling, the Jays gave up two players, one a PTBNL and the other their second-round pick from 2019, projectable right-hander Kendall Williams. Williams, the Jays’ No. 15 prospect coming into the year, is 6-foot-6 but not very physically mature yet, showing good velocity and spin on his curveball, needing more consistency in his delivery — the kind of coaching he should get in a professional player development environment. The Dodgers have a pretty good track record with this sort of pitcher, and are in a position to take chances on low-probability, high-reward pitchers like Williams.

I’ve been a huge Gavin Lux supporter the last couple years, but man, I am not impressed so far with his at bats. Even when he makes contact, the ball is not squared up very often. Will Smith has a low BA, but we all see how hard he hits the ball; he’s just had horrible luck up till now. But Lux is not making good contact. I wish he’d lay a bunt down the 3rd base line, just to get on base.

But we’re lucky. We have a crazy deep lineup that’s succeeding without even average contributions from 2b. But overall, I agree with AC. If Lux doesn’t seize the job these next 2-3 weeks, go with CT3 in October. He’s looking like he did in 2017, and he always plays good D and plays the game hard.

The 3 kid pitchers go this weekend. It’ll be nice to see them vs the Rockies lineup .

I think the change-of-pace is the most under appreciated pitches in MLB. Plural because the change-of-pace may be a circle-change, split fingered, along with various styles that were once referred to as palm balls. I think Ross Stripling would have been more successful if he had thrown his change-up (which appeared to be a good one) more frequently than 16% of the time. Kenta Maeda had a good change and threw it almost 24% of the time in 2019; Hyun Jin Ryu used the pitch more than 27% of the time in 2019 — and both are having excellent 2020 seasons throwing the pitch even more frequently with their new teams. Don’t know what is up with Lux, but the way he is playing right now I would rather see Zach McKinstry getting those at bats.

Hey, I go way back. I remember Charlie Neal, pretty good player, at second base, Jim Gilliam too.

I’m thinking that Gavin Lux will be given lots of opportunity to step it up in the next four weeks, but we’ll have to wait until next year, a normal spring and regular season to see if he’s the guy moving forward.

Kiki is pretty good defensively, but just hasn’t hit enough — he’ll be moving on. Taylor’s value is being able to play multiple positions. The position is kind of like third before Justin Turner showed up.

The next month may provide insight into what the Dodgers may do this winter. Does Lux show signs of life? Plus how do you read that? Strange times and all.

What’s really obvious this year is that a healthy Cory Seager is a force.

Funny about Orlando Hudson. The Dodgers signed him, he was on fire early, had the best opening day ever, then eventually faded and became an afterthought toward the end of the season. The Dodgers gave up the 16th pick in the draft to sign him, as I recall.

As much as I liked Hudson, I didn’t like him that much. Interesting how some players fall out of favor and how quickly it happens.

It would be nice to return to the days of Davy Lopes. Maybe Lux becomes that player. If not him, who steps up or does Friedman search the trade market.? That hasn’t really worked (Forsythe, Kendrick).

Since AF has been in charge they have made numerous attempts to fill 2b. Without going thru them all there have been Cuban signings, trades, short term fixes and drafts, and so far none have been successful.

At least AF is aware of it.