Dodgers shouldn't be fooled by Gavin Lux's big series against Red Sox

Okay, maybe we have to issue a half-hearted but totally revocable and conditional apology to Gavin Lux, who had an admittedly great series against the Red Sox. After going hitless in Game 1, he hit a single, two doubles, and two home runs with three RBI in Games 2 and 3, and they marked the first time he's had an extra base hit in back-to-back games this entire season. Thanks to his production during that series, he's hitting .429 through seven games from July 11 to July 21.

Still, there's a reason Lux has been on Dodgers' fans bad side throughout the season, and it dates all the way back to spring training. He entered the year coming off of a surgery that kept him out for all of 2023, and as LA's first-round draft pick in 2016 and No. 1 prospect in 2020, there was a lot of hope that he'd come back and finally get a chance to live up to the hype.

But then he failed so spectacularly as a shortstop that he forced a swap with Mookie Betts at second, a move that's been criticized more and more as the season's worn on. Then Lux batted .175 in April, and the bloom came off the rose entirely.

The Dodgers' insistence in sticking with him this season, despite the fact that he has two minor league options left, has been confounding. No doubt they were waiting for him to look exactly how he looked in those games against the Red Sox, but they shouldn't take this as a sign to keep him through the trade deadline.

Gavin Lux's great series against the Red Sox doesn't mean the Dodgers should keep him at the trade deadline

If anything, Lux is making a better case for himself as a trade chip than as an indispensable part of the Dodgers lineup. Even if he can get hot over the next week until the deadline, hot streaks fade, and he hasn't even come close to showing enough consistency to make anyone believe that it'll last. Even Chris Taylor, who had an even worse start to the season than Lux, enjoyed a nice upswing in June, but he's since declined again and has been hitting .170 over his last 14 games.

The Dodgers don't seem to be making infielders a priority at the deadline; all of the rumors point instead to major starting pitching additions. However, Mookie Betts' grip strength is at 50% and Miguel Rojas has struggled offensively in July, but is still a defensive asset at shortstop (when healthy).

If they don't get a shortstop (though they should) or trade Lux, then a demotion isn't out of the question. This could be a sign of more to come, but the Dodgers are in a tenuous place and can't keep waiting on him, and a few good games just isn't enough.