The Rays are pulling Gavin Lux off his rehab assignment with a left shoulder injury, manager Kevin Cash tells Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. He’ll go for imaging later in the week, and Cash said he’ll be out of action “for the foreseeable future.”
Lux has yet to make his team debut. The Rays acquired him from the Reds over the offseason and said he’d be their primary second baseman. Lux has battled various injuries over the past couple months. He was nagged by oblique discomfort during Spring Training, then suffered a right shoulder impingement in mid-March. Lux then tweaked his left ankle in April. That halted his rehab assignment for a couple weeks.
The ankle injury meant Lux has had two rehab stints without making it back to the MLB roster. He has appeared in 21 Triple-A games overall, hitting .200 with one home run across 90 plate appearances. He has taken 20 walks while striking out 23 times.
Tampa Bay will now await the imaging from what is evidently a new injury. It seems inevitable he’ll be moved to the 60-day injured list once the Rays need a roster spot. That’d backdate to Opening Day, meaning he’d be eligible to return in less than two weeks. Given Cash’s comments, he’s almost certainly not going to be ready by then.
It’s particularly ill timing for Lux, who’ll be a first-time free agent next winter. He has been a league average hitter for the last two seasons, so he was already something of a reclamation pickup for Tampa Bay. The Reds played him more at designated hitter or in left field than at second base a year ago. Tampa Bay had intended to give him another opportunity in the middle infield.
The Rays have used a Richie Palacios/Ben Williamson platoon at second base. They’ve each been league average offensive players. Palacios and Williamson have combined for one home run but have a strong .354 on-base percentage in a total of 190 plate appearances. That’s similar to what the Rays hoped to get out of Lux and emblematic of their offensive approach as a team. Tampa Bay is 25th in home runs and 22nd in slugging but has the eighth-best OBP in the league. They’ve been a league average offense overall, ranking 14th in scoring.
Despite the middling lineup, the Rays have raced to a 28-13 start to jump to the top of the American League. Only the Braves have a better record in MLB. Tampa Bay has pitched well and been one of the more productive offenses with runners in scoring position. Even if they’re not going to continue playing at a 111-win pace, they’ve positioned themselves very well in an otherwise weak AL.
They’re two games up on the Yankees in the division and 8.5 clear of the top team not in playoff position. It sets them up to approach deadline season as buyers, with center field and the middle infield spots the clearest places they can look to add. Luis Arraez seems likely to be the top rental second baseman available. CJ Abrams would be the top middle infield target for most clubs if the Nationals dangle him with two and a half seasons of remaining arbitration control.
Reds are winning that trade by a country mile.
Lux is hurt but his 0 WAR is actually better than having Josh Lowe.
That makes sense on why he was playing in AAA so long considering he had two injuries so his rehab time was longer. Not great results there but until he can play a bigger sample without getting hurt this years numbers can be taken with a grain of salt.
K% over 25, bb% over 22 in AAA while batting .200 for a veteran screams lack of confidence. It was a weird trade, since lux isn’t a starter or even utility guy.
Chris Clark had to be the target for Tampa. Low 90s sinker/sweeper and can now hit up to 97 with the fb.
If it wasnt for Bad Lux, I’d have no Lux at all.
The Mush – Goodfellas
If it wasn’t for Bad Lux, I’d have no Lux at all.
The Mush – Goodfellas
I was today years old when I found out Lux is not in cincy anymore
The reason the Rays have a league-average offense so far without much power is not because they’re playing “small ball,” as some people were saying on here yesterday. It’s because they’re 8th in OBP.
A large part of “small ball” is the getting on base to move runner along aspect. Bunts were never a huge part of the philosophy but walks were constant.
Also top in stolen bases and last in Ks. Very small ball