By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Baseball Writer
Gavin Lux hasn’t seen the video of the injury that ended his chance of being the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting shortstop this season and has no plans to watch it.
Lux will miss the season with torn ligaments in his right knee after getting hurt running the bases in a spring training game. The 25-year-old came to camp as the top candidate to replace the departed Trea Turner as the Dodgers’ shortstop.
“That’s one of the hardest parts,” Lux said Tuesday, while fighting back tears and leaning on crutches inside the team’s facility in Glendale, Arizona. “I think every baseball player’s dream is to play shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called the injury a huge blow and said his heart goes out the young infielder.
Lux got hurt Monday when running between second and third base against San Diego after a groundball was hit. Soon after ducking to avoid a throw, he took a couple of steps before his right knee buckled, he stumbled forward and fell to the ground. He said he felt something pop and his leg went numb.
“I tried to duck out of the way of the throw, and I think my cleat got kind of stuck into the ground a little bit and straightened out a little funky, and bowed out, and yeah, I kind of rolled up on my ankle, too. Freak thing, I don’t even think it’s really avoidable,” Lux said. “In hindsight, probably should have just took the throw to the nose and worn it.”
The Dodgers’ first-round pick in the 2016 amateur draft, Lux played only nine games at shortstop last season while hitting .276 in 129 games, most at second base and some in left field. He led the NL with seven triples, while hitting six homers and driving in 42 runs.
Turner, the starting shortstop last year, left as a free agenct for Philadelphia. That came after Corey Seager left the Dodgers the previous offseason and signed with Texas.
“Crush my rehab and try to be ready for, you know, 2024, when it rolls around,” Lux said. “It’s kind of all you can do.”
GLASNOW STRAIN
Tyler Glasnow will miss the start of another season for the Tampa Bay Rays.
After not making his debut last season until September following Tommy John surgery, Glasnow is expected to miss six to eight weeks because of a left oblique strain.
The Rays said Tuesday that an MRI detected a grade 2 strain. That came a day after the 29-year-old right-hander, who signed a $30.35 million, two-year contract, cut short throwing live batting practice after six pitches.
Glasnow was the Rays’ opening day starter in 2021, when he went 5-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 14 starts. The 6-foot-8 Glasnow then missed nearly 14 months because of the Tommy John surgery.
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