Gavin Lux Creates a Justifiably Crowded Infield Mix for the Reds

When the Dodgers signed KBO infielder Hye-Seong Kim, there was plenty of speculation that Gavin Lux could be shopped with the Mariners and Yankees appearing as two of the most seamless trade partners.

As far as suitors for Gavin Lux go, the Reds were probably towards the bottom of the list intuitively.

It was already a bit of a tight squeeze in the Reds infield with Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Jeimer Candelario, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer all vying for at bats.

Beyond that, the team’s reserves skew towards the infield as well with Santiago Espinal, Rule 5 pick Cooper Bowman, and former top prospect Noelvi Marte.

A clear need for the Reds heading into the offseason was a right-handed hitting outfielder. Perhaps Anthony Santander, Tyler O’Neill and Teoscar Hernandez were too rich for Bob Castellini’s pockets and the trade market for established outfielders is thin.

As a result, President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall decided to lean into versatility and creativity.

Cincinnati Reds Trade for Gavin Lux

Though he solely played second base last season, Lux has a history of moving around the diamond for the Dodgers, at least a little bit, making 45 appearances in the outfield since debuting in 2019 with the majority of the action coming in left field during the 2022 season.

With the disclaimer that the sample size is small, the advanced metrics did not love him in the outfield and his throwing issues in 2024 do not necessarily help his case, but with a full offseason to prepare for a smaller Great American Ballpark outfield, Lux could settle in a bit more.

Even with some outfield looks, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Lux get the majority of his run at second base, however that would push Matt McLain to the outfield, a position he has not played with any regularity since he freshman year at UCLA where he made 50 starts in center.

As far as McLain’s professional experience in the outfield goes, he played 23 innings in center field during his time in the Arizona Fall League.

With his plus speed and at least general familiarity with the outfield, it wouldn’t be surprising to see McLain fare better out there, though he is a better defensive infielder than Lux is as well.

McLain could also be a candidate to man the hot corner, a position he has played just one game at since being drafted by the Reds, but would project well at after turning in an impressive defensive campaign at shortstop in 2023, committing just one error in 53 games with four defensive runs saved.

McLain and De La Cruz could offer one of the rangiest left sides of the infield in baseball and allow the Reds to slide Jeimer Candelario over to first base or designated hitter coming off of what was arguably his worst defensive season as he dealt with several injuries that limited him to just 112 games in 2024.

It was a rough offensive season as well for the 31-year-old, who may benefit from DH’ing more in year two of his three-year, $45 million contract.

Steer is another somewhat movable defender, though he does not particularly excel at any position. It seems as though the Reds would prefer to play Steer in left field, where he saw the bulk of his action last season. He is a below-average but passable defender out there, while also making 63 appearances at first base.

Adding Lux to the fold keeps the Reds from putting all of their eggs in the Encarnacion-Strand basket, a hitter with exciting potential but played just 29 games last season due to wrist surgery and comes with a volatile, free-swinging approach.

Tyler Stephenson will likely filter through the DH spot on days that Terry Francona wants to get him out of the crouch, that’s why they acquired Jose Trevino after all, but the biggest takeaway here is that the Reds are not nearly as dependent on a bounce back from Candelario or Encarnacion-Strand to field a strong starting nine.

While it’s not earth shattering news, the move also hammers home the sentiment that the Reds are not banking on contributions from former top prospect Noelvi Marte.

While he is just 23 years old, Marte missed half of the season due to a PED suspension and struggled both offensively and defensively in his 66 big-league contests after returning to action.

Perhaps most concerning was his stark drop-off in exit velocities while appearing destined for a move to first base defensively.

Despite De La Cruz ranking third among shortstops in Outs Above Average in 2024 (15), the Reds infield collectively checked in at 21st in baseball in both OAA (-9) and Runs Prevented (-7), per Baseball Savant.

Krall learned the hard way how quickly infield depth can thin last season, which was part of the reason why Marte even received as much run as he did despite his struggles.

A last-resort acquisition of Santiago Espinal actually gave the Reds much-needed infield help, followed by a desperate claim of Amed Rosario after he was placed on waivers by the Dodgers.

The Reds also ran players like: Nick Martini, Mike Ford, Dominic Smith, and Edwin Rios through the DH spot.

After bolstering the rotation with the acquisition of Brady Singer, as well as tendering a qualifying offer to retain Nick Martinez, Krall clearly did not want a lack of infield production both offensively and defensively to be a reason why his team could not compete for a National League Wild Card spot and parted with decent assets to ensure that.

Lux comes with two years of control, while only being projected to make about $2.7 million in arbitration. He is also coming off of a second half where he posted a 152 wRC+, which surely upped the asking price for the Dodgers. Krall obliged by trading 2024 third-round pick Mike Sirota and a Comp A pick, which is expected to land around No. 35-37 overall in the 2025 draft.

Between a second half that was the best stretch of Lux’s career and a move to one of baseball’s most hitter-friendly ballparks, it’s easy to see how he can help bolster the Reds offense, but there’s a lot of value to raising the team’s defensive floor as well.

Lux has graded out as an above-average second baseman every season before last year, when he made his return from a torn ACL and dealt with some throwing accuracy issues that seemed yips-adjacent. While Lux could be used in a super-utility role, it may be worth considering giving him more regular reps at second base with some outfield mixed in.

One of the most head-scratching aspects of the Reds is the fact that the pitching staff posted the lowest ground ball rate in the league (38%) despite calling home to MLB’s most home-run friendly ballpark.

That may have been a good thing given the Reds’ defensive struggles on the dirt last season, though it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if adding pitchers who induce ground balls was something of an area of focus for the Reds.

Brady Singer predominantly throws a sinker and his 49% career ground ball rate is more than 10% higher than the team figure in 2024. The two internal arms who paced the team in ground ball rate were hurt for much of the season in Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft.

While Ashcraft may move to the bullpen, the hope is that the duo combines for more than 190 innings in 2025.

Rhett Lowder didn’t get a ton of ground balls in his successful big league debut but has racked up well above average ground ball rates at every stop dating back to his days at Wake Forest.

The team shipped Fernando Cruz and his 36% ground ball rate to New York for Jose Trevino and are seemingly intrigued by Yosver Zulueta who yielded an average launch angle of 2.6 degrees in 54 innings with Triple-A Louisville, maintaining a similar figure in his pro debut with the Reds.

Even if getting more contact on the ground was not as much of a priority as it seems, the team almost surely will see an increase in that department and now have the defensive pieces to accommodate it.

The Reds knew the only superstar they would acquire this offseason would be Elly De La Cruz taking another step forward in 2025, so for the team to succeed, the foundation had to be more sturdy than it was last season. A year where many expected the team to make a run at the NL Central before getting derailed by injuries on the mound and in the infield.

Still with all of the intrigue that won plenty of fans over in the second half of 2023, the Reds look much more prepared for the battle of attrition that is an MLB season.