Los Angeles Dodgers top prospect Gavin Lux is a finalist for Top Offensive Player in the 2019 MiLBYs. Lux is part of a crowded field that includes nine other prospects who had an impressive Minor League season.
Fans can vote online — without any limits — through Oct. 31.
Lux was a non-roster invitee to Spring Training this year and then began the 2019 campaign with Double-A Tulsa. He shook off a modest showing and case of the yips in camp to shine for the Drillers.
In 64 games he batted .313/.375/.521 with seven doubles, four triples, 13 home runs and 37 RBI. Lux was among the eight Drillers named to the Texas League All-Star Game and he additionally was selected to the 2019 MLB Futures Game.
The Dodgers promoted Lux to Triple-A Oklahoma City at the end of June, and he hit at a torrid pace despite being one of the youngest players on the circuit. Lux hit safely in his first 16 Triple-A games, which also included a stretch of at least one home run in five consecutive contests.
Combined time with the Drillers and Oklahoma City saw Lux produce a 50-game on-base streak from early June to the middle of August. He was named Pacific Coast League Player of the Week for the period of July 15-21, and PCL Player of the Month for July.
Overall with Oklahoma City, he batted .392/.478/.719 with 18 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs and 39 RBI in 49 games.
Lux finished his Minor League season ranked fourth in batting average (.347), 10th in on-base percentage (.421), sixth in slugging (.607) and fourth in on-base plus slugging (1.028). The impressive campaign earned him an MLB call-up shortly after active rosters expanded in September.
Lux had a modest showing in 24 games with the Dodgers but was included on their roster for the National League Division Series. His postseason debut was a pinch-hit appearance in Game 1, when Lux lined a home run over the fence in right-center field.
At 21 years and 314 days old, he became the second-youngest player in MLB history to hit a home run in his first postseason plate appearance. Lux also holds the record for youngest player in Dodgers franchise history to slug a homer in the playoffs, and their first to leave the yard in his first at-bat in the postseason.
The ball landed in a trash can and was retrieved by fans who gave it to Lux in exchange for memorabilia and a photo op. “It kind of makes it a little more funny and a better story for the ball, I guess,” Lux said.
“Twenty years from now I can tell my kids, hey, this ball was in the trash can.”
