Gavin Lux couldn’t officially begin the next chapter of his career with the Cincinnati Reds without thanking the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The infielder took to Instagram and penned a heartfelt message to Dodgers and fans.
“Thank you to the entire Dodgers organization for taking a chance on an 18 year old kid from Kenosha, Wisconsin and letting him live out his dream of playing in the big leagues and winning a World Series….
“To the entire front office, the staff, and most importantly my teammates I had a chance to play with the last 9 years, I will cherish our time forever! And thank you to the fans for all the support through the ups and downs, and supporting me throughout my rehab process, it helped me more than you’ll ever know!”
Lux had a strong finish to the 2024 season after missing 2023 due to torn knee ligaments. In Game 5 of the World Series, he delivered the tying run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly in the Dodgers’ clinching victory over the New York Yankees.
He posted a .304 batting average and an .899 OPS in the second half, which was a significant improvement from his .213 average and .562 OPS in the first half.
“It helped getting further away from surgery and to start trusting it again,” Lux said. “I just tried to do more damage. I think I tried to get on base and control the strike zone so much that I didn’t really take any chances to do damage.
“I kind of just said, ‘Screw it, I’ll trust my eyes and I’m not going to chase the ball. I’m not going to swing at balls. I’m not going to chase outside of the zone.’ Then I just tried to start doing a little more damage, taking more shots.”
Lux was selected by the Dodgers in the first round of the 2016 draft from Indian Trail High School in Kenosha, Wis.
In 2019, he earned Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year honors after posting a .347 batting average, a 1.028 OPS, 26 home runs, and 76 RBIs across 113 games with Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City.