When will Gavin Lux finally do something? It's a question we've been asking since as far back as last year, when the Dodgers delayed his call-up for what seemed like half a season.
But we do finally have an answer. On Tuesday, he did something ... or two somethings, rather. Here's what the loudest of them looked like:
BREAK IT OPEN, @TheRealGavinLux. pic.twitter.com/5Rzl0D3x1s
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 9, 2020
He also drove in five somethings, quite obviously a career high. And here's something: He has started eight of the Dodgers' past nine games, so for all the times they've eschewed him in the past — including the start of this season, when he spent the first month at the alternate training site — they're making a real commitment now.
And we all know the upside. He hit .347 with 26 homers and a 1.028 OPS between two minor-league stops last year, building off his 2018 breakthrough, and was a top-five prospect according to most every publication coming into 2020. Still, he had gone 4 for 27 prior to Tuesday's game, with poor quality-of-contact stats to boot and, again, did virtually nothing down the stretch last season.
You take a chance on upside wherever it presents itself, though, and a presentation as loud as this one could be what opens the floodgates for a known talent. Rostered in just 58 percent of CBS Sports leagues, Lux could be a game-changer at second base down the stretch ... or slip right back into his earlier struggles. If you're hoping to cash in on the former, though, now might be your only chance to act.
We discussed slumping players who should be benched plus reviewed Tuesday's action on the Wednesday edition of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. Follow all our podcasts and subscribe here.
Michael Pineda clearly wasn't just waiting around while serving his PED suspension, having now thrown six and seven innings in his first two starts back. The volume alone makes him a slam-dunk pickup given how few pitchers are going deep into games this year, but his stuff is looking about as good as it ever has, too, delivering a 15.7 percent swinging-strike rate so far.
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Though he took the loss Tuesday, Tyler Mahle also showed the full extent of his transformation, piling up 22 swinging strikes just two starts after going for 18. His new secondary pitch, whether classified as a cutter or slider, is mostly to thank, as it is for the fact went more than six innings for the third straight start. He could never silence a lineup for that long in years past, when he lived and died with his fastball.
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Joe Musgrove is still building back up after missing about a month with shoulder inflammation, which is why I've depicted his combined totals in two starts since returning. They're some good totals, though, and he's headed the right direction with the pitch count, going from 46 in the first start to 64 in the second. The whiffs have been there -- 18 on those 110 pitches -- and he has always been an efficient worker.
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With another home run and double Tuesday, Ryan Mountcastle continues to look the part, keeping the strikeouts down while hitting to all fields with a high line-drive rate. The walks have faded after four in his first four games, which was to be expected, but the 60-grade hit tool that saw him deliver a .312 batting average in the minors last year is making him an obvious pickup in any league where you could use another first baseman or outfielder.
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The most impressive thing about Jeimer Candelario's full-season batting line is that he began the year 0 for 17, but the version we've seen since then is the one I'm buying now. Though he hit his fifth home run Tuesday, driving in four runs, it's what he's doing on balls in play that has made all the difference, delivering such a high line-drive rate that the data mostly backs up the production. He was overly patient in the past and is making harder contact on pitches in his wheelhouse now.
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The Red Sox's new first baseman following Mitch Moreland's departure has homered in four straight games, including both of a doubleheader Tuesday, living up to the reports of him being a 70-grade power bat. Of course, putting the bat on the ball has long been an issue, but he made strides with it later in his minor-league career. His defects nonetheless limit his usefulness to Rotisserie leagues, but if you're looking to climb the home run category in one, he can help with that.
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