The Next Superstar Middle Infielder You Need To Know Is Dodgers' Prospect Gavin Lux

I like to do these little prospect teasers here and there because of the absurd dearth of talent that is right on the cusp.  We are in a golden age of major league baseball and nothing short of a strike (please don’t happen after the current CBA expires) can stop it from continually becoming more and more popular.

Gavin Lux, a MIF prospect for the Dodgers, currently has a TON of helium in baseball circles.  He was a late 1st rounder out of Kenosha WI, and I had the chance to see him play 3-4x as a high schooler as he’s more or less a local kid.  I am not embellishing when I say this, he has the fastest hands I’ve ever seen on a HS MIF prospect in my life:

Just sooooooo smooth.  Defensively, his actions are phenomenal.  He didn’t come without red flags though, which is the case for most HS players.

1. Would his arm play at SS
2. Would he develop any power?
3. Would his bat to ball skills translate in pro ball?

And those red flags became apparent in his first two years in pro ball.  He’s shuffled around between SS and 2B defensively which is whatever.  But offensively, he only had 29 extra base hits through his first ~775 plate appearances.  That is not good at all.  The bat to ball skills were there, as his strike out rate was sub 20%, but the Dodgers weren’t looking to draft David Eckstein in the 1st round.

But low and behold, the power came, and it came in SPADES.  Here is his slash line in 2019 through two levels

he’s putting up goddamn Luis Robert numbers sans the SBs as a MIF.  That, my friends, will play.  Yes, the balls are juiced in AAA and yes the Pacific Coast League is played in a lot of thin aired desert and mountain towns inflating offensive numbers, but Lux is 21 years old playing 3 years younger than league average.  This is a huge testament to the Dodgers player development staff.  A few tweaks here and there and a smaller statured MIF with no power to speak of is turning into a 30 home run threat.

Kid has faster hands than Delino Deshields:

Now the question is is this: will Lux (grade 80 baseball name btw) ever play for the Dodgers?  They have Seager at SS and Muncy at 2B so he’s probably trade bait at this point due to being blocked.  But his timeframe is like…. now.  So don’t be surprised if he’s manning 2B for a Major League team not in Los Angeles come mid-April 2019. Now that he’s tapped into his power and is hitting in everything in sight, he’s next in line as a next ssssttttuuuuudddd prospect that is on the cusp.  Get used to his name because he’s going to be a household name sooner than later.

PS

His uncle is the coach at Carthage College in Kenosha and was the 2nd overall pick in the 1982 draft.  He fizzled out BADLY but has found a ton of success at Carthage.  He recruited me in HS but I stupidly spurned him for North Central where I caught the best bullpen in the history of bullpens.  We were playing at Carthage my freshman year and he was watering the field pregame and he was smoking a cigarette while doing so.  He legit smoked in the dugout too.  I ducked all of his calls after I realized I didn’t wanna live in Kenosha for 4 years but we made eye contact while he was watering the field and he goes “Williams??? The fuck you doing playing at North Central???” right in front of my head coach.  My head coach didn’t like that and they exchanged some words.

Augie, if you’re reading this, just know that I do in fact regret my decision of playing at NCC and not for you at Carthage.