Dodgers: 2016 Draft – One Year Later
By Sully Engels
1st Round — Gavin Lux — SS
Lux has been a constant theme in our minor league reports and for a good reason. He is a physically gifted player who will hopefully one day be a part of the Dodgers infield in one way or another. His first year in the pro ball out of high school is about what you can expect from an 18-year-old kid: solid defense and a bat that is just a second behind.
Lux has hit .278 over nearly 330 minor league at-bats over a few levels. He has no home runs, 21 extra-base hits, and he has struck out almost twice as many times as he has walked. All of this is entirely ok at this point, especially for a player playing a premier defensive position as he is.
In the next couple of years, fans would hope to see Lux increase the power numbers a bit while maintaining the average. It’s unlikely he will every play shortstop for the Dodgers, but his glove has proved very capable so far. He only has two errors so far in 2016 and has improved his range metrics to the highest they have been in his career.
Lux comes from a solid baseball background, and that should help in continuing to develop as well. He has the frame to be a big league player and the maturity that he has displayed is something that the Dodgers really like.