Dodgers Prospect Gavin Lux Assesses Defensive Strides in 2019

Dodgers top prospect Gavin Lux has been a popular name around Major League Baseball since he was promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City. While we already did a deep dive into his offensive strides in 2019 here, the 21 year-old shortstop is more than just a bat.

Moreover, Lux took time to take us through his defensive improvements here in the 2019 season.

Last year I kind of went through some struggles throwing — it was more just throwing accuracy, and a lot of it was definitely mental. I don’t even think it was physical at all, it was more of a kind of yips case.

I think this year I just kind of started saying ‘whatever, I’m just going to let it rip,’ and if I make a mistake, I’m going to make it on the aggressive side and not passive.

After committing 31 errors in 116 games between shortstop and some second base at Single-A Rancho and Double-A Tulsa in 2018, he’s cut it down to 12 here in 2019.

Gavin saw time with Los Angeles during spring training, including joining the team for the freeway series in Anaheim. He touched on his time after being reassigned to minor league camp in March.

Going into spring training and struggling a little bit, but as soon as I got back down to minor league camp, we really hammered on defense, and that was a big priority of mine that I really needed to improve on.

This year I think it’s been night and day compared to the last few years, and I think a lot more confidence. I think it’s been a ton better, I’m pretty confident on where it’s at.

Second Base

While he’s played mostly shortstop in his MiLB career, that position is block by Corey Seager at the big league level. However, at second base there may be opportunity.

I grew up playing second base, so it’s not uncomfortable at all. Obviously getting reps over there again — and I played it in 2017 and 2018 — so it’s definitely not uncomfortable at all, it’s something I’ve been doing for awhile.

And if you can play short, you can play second, not too much of a difference, obviously just a shorter throw. Getting game reps, it obviously can’t hurt, and I think it’s good for me to be able to do both.

As Gavin Lux continues to make waves through the organization and throughout media, everyone will continue to wonder when he’ll get his call up to the bigs.

Stay tuned for more from this exclusive interview with Gavin!