Lux out for the year with torn ACL

Gavin Lux, the Los Angeles Dodgers infielder, tore his ACL yesterday, the team announced. The injury will keep Lux out for the entire 2023 season.

Lux, the Dodgers’ first round pick in 2016 and a consensus top 5 prospect in MLB a few years ago, was the Dodgers’ regular second baseman in 2022, putting up a 2.5 bWAR while slashing .276/.346/.399 in 129 games. Lux was expected to be the Dodgers’ regular shortstop in 2023 after the departure of free agent Trea Turner.

This is a significant blow for the Dodgers, who are coming off a 111 win season and are fighting the San Diego Padres for supremacy in the National League West. Miguel Rojas, acquired from the Miami Marlins by the Dodgers this offseason, would seem to be the guy who will be asked to fill in for Lux, with Chris Taylor or Yonny Hernandez being behind Rojas.

Should the Dodgers look to go outside the organization for help, the options would appear to be sparse. Our old friend Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who is a free agent after 2023, is someone the New York Yankees would most likely make available, given that Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe are pushing to claim the starting shortstop job for the Yanks. IKF would give the Dodgers a one year stopgap in Lux’s absence.