Dodgers Team News

Dodgers News: Gavin Lux to Remain Sidelined Until Next Week at Best

Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux hasn’t played since September 1, dealing with a neck and upper back issue that also caused him to miss six games in late August. Before Friday’s game, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts told the media it’s going to be a little while longer before we see him back in a game.

The Dodgers can afford to let Lux take his time to get fully healthy, with an insurmountable lead in the NL West and a reasonably comfortable lead for the best record in baseball. The big concern, of course, is that the lengthy layoff is due to the injury being more serious than Roberts and the Dodgers are letting on. The secondary concern would be Lux being out so long that he’s not fully back in the groove by the time the postseason starts.

It’s interesting that the Dodgers are opting not to put Lux on the injured list. With Roberts not expecting him back for another week, they could have placed him on the IL on Friday and still had him back around that time. But Roberts says they don’t have anyone they want to call up from Triple-A, so there’s no roster reason to officially sideline Lux.

That means rookie James Outman is presumably out of the question for a postseason audition, despite his outstanding play with Oklahoma City. With Trayce Thompson and Joey Gallo both available even if Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor don’t break out of their slumps, the Dodgers have decided it makes more sense to keep Outman getting regular playing time in Triple-A instead of a bench role in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers have had some bad luck with injuries lately, but hopefully it’s just a whole lot of caution as they play out the stretch of relatively meaningless games before the postseason starts.

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Jeff Snider

Jeff was born into a Dodgers family in Southern California and is now raising a Dodgers family of his own in Utah. During his previous career as an executive at a technology company, he began writing about baseball in his spare time. After leaving corporate America in 2014, he started doing it professionally. Jeff wrote and edited for Baseball Essential for years before joining Dodgers Nation. He's also the co-host of the Locked On Dodgers podcast, a daily podcast that brings the smart fan's perspective on our Boys in Blue. Jeff has a degree in English from Brigham Young University. Favorite Player: Clayton Kershaw Favorite Moment: Kirk Gibson's homer will always have a place, but Kershaw's homer on Opening Day 2013 might be the winner.

One Comment

  1. Outman could and should get more playing time in the Bigs; they should sit Belli for a while and let him reset.

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