When Gavin Lux walked off the field at Goodyear Ballpark on Monday, the former Dodgers infielder wore three things.
A bright red Cincinnati Reds jersey; one on the opposite end of the color spectrum from his old Dodger blue threads.
An easy, confident smile, Lux already feeling settled with his new club less than two months after an offseason trade that changed the trajectory of his career.
And, perhaps most of all, an unmistakable chip on his shoulder, the 27-year-old out to prove plenty of people — including some of his old employers in Los Angeles — wrong and show them what he’s capable of on a major league diamond.
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“Always, I think you have that chip on your shoulder,” said Lux, a first-round draft pick and former top prospect who spent six seasons on the Dodgers and won World Series rings in 2020 and 2024 before being dealt for outfield prospect Mike Sirota and a draft pick.
“I think you always want to prove that you can play on the left side of the infield, you can hit lefties, whatever that chip is,” Lux said. “Every guy has a different chip. For me, I think that’s one of them.”
Indeed, the Dodgers’ hesitancy to play Lux at multiple positions or give him regular at-bats in left-on-left matchups were two of the main reasons they shipped him to Cincinnati in early January — three days after their signing of Korean utility man Hyeseong Kim made Lux expendable.
“After that signing, you’re like, ‘Oh, OK, maybe there’s a chance [I could get traded],’” Lux said Monday after playing against the Dodgers for the first time in the Reds’ 8-1 spring training win.
“Obviously you still don’t really expect it after being in one place for so long. But at the same time, it is a business. They have to do what’s best for them. And I think they did me a solid by getting me to a place that has the expectation of winning. … A place where I think they think I can help.”
When Lux first arrived in the majors in 2019, the expectation was that he’d be a cornerstone piece of the Dodgers’ long-term success, seemingly primed for star-level…