By CJ Carlson
The Los Angeles Dodgers know that anybody can win a job at any time, and that seems to be what’s happening when it comes to their shortstop position. It appeared as if Gavin Lux had the position locked down after the club expressed confidence in him, but it does feel like his job could be up in the air.
Throughout Spring Training, and after the team backed Lux for the starting job, he’s been underwhelming defensively. While this wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing for him if he had no other competition, he does have competition at the same position right now. That competition is Miguel Rojas. When the media asked about the shortstop battle going on, manager Dave Roberts said, “Obviously, performance is paramount at this level, and for our team vying to win a championship. So, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I do know that it will be in the vein of whatever gives us the best chance to win.”
Lux had a great season in 2022. He had a batting average of .276 and slugged .399 with six homers and 42 runs drove in. He was able to accomplish these numbers across 129 games, and even tied for the most triples in the National League with seven. Unfortunately, that following offseason, he suffered a torn ACL which led for him to miss the entire season. Rojas wound up filling in for him and taking over the job for 121 total games at shortstop.
Los Angeles Dodgers Like What Rojas Brings
Rojas is somebody that the Dodgers really value defensively, and they feel like he’s got an excellent glove. With Lux having a shaky start to Spring Training, the Dodgers could opt to stick with Rojas for another year and take advantage of his defensive strengths. The problem is that Lux was coming off a great year at the plate, and Rojas is relatively below average when it comes to that area of his game. He’s more than capable of holding his own in the box, but it feels like Lux could provide more impact as a batter, while Rojas could be more defense oriented.
There are others vying for that job as well, and it’s important to note that nothing has officially changed yet. While the team has noticeably opened that job up for competition, one would imagine that Lux still has the confidence of the coaching staff to get back on track, as he likely has some rust.
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