Major League Baseball

Gavin Lux's torn ACL deals major blow to Dodgers; what are their options?

Updated Feb. 28, 2023 2:09 p.m. ET

Three games into their spring training schedule, the Dodgers need to figure out contingency plans at shortstop.

Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Tuesday morning that Gavin Lux suffered a torn ACL and will miss the 2023 season. It's a brutal blow for a Dodgers team that was counting on the former top prospect to take over full-time shortstop duties this year.

Lux suffered the non-contact injury to his right knee while running to third base on Monday afternoon against the Padres. The 25-year-old was trying to get out of the way of a throw to second base when his right knee buckled. Lux stumbled awkwardly, fell to the ground and struggled to put any weight on his right leg before being carted off the field. Roberts later told reporters that Lux felt a pop, and an MRI revealed the damage.

The Dodgers have been touted for their depth over the past decade, but Lux is a player they could ill afford to lose. He was slated to replace Trea Turner at shortstop after the All-Star signed an 11-year, $300-million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies this offseason.

"I'm really high on Gavin Lux," Freddie Freeman said earlier this spring. "That is a hard thing to do, to take over at shortstop in the big leagues, and what he did last year before he got hurt at the end of the year — hitting .300, playing every day — that was a huge step for him, and I think he's going to take an even better jump this year."

With Turner gone, the Dodgers felt comfortable shifting Lux back to his more natural position. Lux rose through the Dodgers' farm system as a shortstop and became one of baseball's top prospects after mashing 26 homers, 25 doubles and eight triples between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2019. That year, Lux made his major-league debut. But with Corey Seager occupying shortstop, Lux's first taste of the majors came at second base.

That's where he has logged the majority of his playing time since, including last year, when he posted a career-best 105 OPS+ with six homers, 20 doubles, a league-leading seven triples and seven stolen bases. Roberts expected those stolen-base totals to rise this year with the new pickoff limits and larger bases.

Though Lux has graded out better defensively at second base than shortstop in his four-year major league career, and enjoyed his best major-league season last year as a second baseman, the Dodgers believed in him enough at shortstop that they sat out of a rich free-agent market at the position.

Instead, the franchise made a move on the margins in January by trading for and extending Miguel Rojas. The acquisition, which gave the Dodgers some insurance, now looks vital.

Roberts told reporters on Tuesday that Rojas will assume the majority of playing time at shortstop. Rojas spent the last six seasons as the Marlins' primary shortstop but has played all four infield spots during his nine-year career and was expected to serve in more of a utility role this year.

"I always say, I'm going to prepare to play 162 games at shortstop," Rojas said during FanFest. "But, if anything happens and they need me somewhere else, I'll be ready to play anywhere."

Rojas is known more for his glove than his bat. He posted a 72 OPS+ last season while playing the second half of the year with a wrist injury that required multiple surgeries this offseason, but he still registered a 2.5-WAR season due to his superb defense. He enjoyed a phenomenal offensive year during the shortened 2020 season, slashing .304/.392/.496, though he has hit 15% below league-average for his career.

In Los Angeles, where his career began in 2014, Rojas knew his role would differ from the one he had in Miami.

"I was just happy to come where everything started for me in the big leagues," Rojas said. "I received a great opportunity almost 10 years ago to get my first hit, to get my first home run, to get my first opportunity to play in the big leagues. Now I come here with a different perspective, a different point of view, and I'm looking forward to embracing the opportunity."

Part of that responsibility meant leading the young players around him. The Dodgers were preparing for a middle-infield combo of Lux and top position-player prospect Miguel Vargas this year.

Now, it'll likely involve two Miguels.

Vargas and Rojas were already acquainted with each other prior to spring training. The two spent some time working out together in Miami this offseason. Rojas worked Vargas out at shortstop, despite the unlikelihood of Vargas shifting over to that spot this year.

"We worked at shortstop because I feel like if you can play short, you can play other positions," Rojas said. "I take pride [in] the guys that are coming up in an organization, and I'm always going to take a role where my leadership is not going to be like speaking or saying something out loud, I just want to show them by example and be here for whatever they need of me. Miguel Vargas reached out to me that he wanted to work on defense. For me, that tells a lot about what he wants to be."

The addition of Rojas allowed the Dodgers to keep Chris Taylor in the outfield going into spring training this year. However, those plans might get adjusted now. Taylor has started 217 games at shortstop during his nine-year career, but he has made only 34 starts combined at the position over the past three seasons.

Roberts told reporters that Taylor and Mookie Betts, who enjoys playing second base, could see more time in the infield with Lux injured.

Another option would be Yonny Hernández, a 24-year-old middle infielder the Dodgers traded for in December, though he has a .521 OPS in a brief major-league career spent between Texas and Arizona.

The Dodgers could also look outside the organization, dealing from a farm system that The Athletic's Keith Law ranked the best in baseball. Of course, acquiring a difference-maker at shortstop now would likely require an overpay. The Dodgers have a number of top prospects expected to debut in 2023, though none of them are shortstops.

Michael Busch, who could debut at some point this year, plays on the right side of the infield. Eddys Leonard and Jorbit Vivas are both middle-infield prospects on the Dodgers' 40-man roster, but neither played beyond high-A last season.

They have a number of young pitchers on the cusp of the major leagues. They also have one of the top catching prospects in all of baseball in Diego Cartaya. At shortstop, however, the answer will have to come from their major-league roster. Or someone else's.

Rowan Kavner covers the Dodgers and NL West for FOX Sports. He previously was the Dodgers’ editor of digital and print publications. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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