Lux continues amazing start at Triple-A

Gavin Lux was emotional upon learning he was being promoted to Triple-A. It's Pacific Coast League pitchers who may be crying now.
The second-ranked Dodgers prospect notched his second four-hit game since joining Oklahoma City, which defeated Round Rock, 13-7, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Lux singled four times, scored four runs and collected an RBI for his third multi-hit effort in six games. 

The 21-year-old has hit safely in all six of his contests on the circuit since his promotion, which doesn't come as much of a surprise to the Dodgers' staff.

"He's had a great season so far and has done everything we've asked of him," Oklahoma City hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh said. "He puts together good at-bats, has great baseball intelligence and knows what he wants to do. He sticks with his plan and it's shown in the way he's been able to execute so far." 
Lux hit the ground running for the Dodgers, notching three hits in his debut on June 28 and hasn't stopped hitting since. On Thursday, the 20th overall pick in the 2016 Draft singled in each of his first three at-bats and scored each time as the Dodgers opened up a 10-2 lead through five innings.
Lux reached on a forceout in the sixth but equaled his career high by crossing the plate for the fourth time on Connor Joe's ninth roundtripper. He grounded out to end the sixth, but two innings later slapped an RBI single past Round Rock third baseman Alex De Goti that produced the game's final run.
Gameday box score
"It's great to see him off to such a good start," Coolbaugh said. "You never know when things might change ... when that first adversity might hit like it does with all players. With Gavin, I don't sense any real issues dealing with that. He makes continuous adjustments along the way. He's got good bat-to-ball skills, but he's also a high character kid with good baseball IQ. Gavin has a lot of those intangibles and things you may not see in numbers that go into molding a player."
Of Lux's seven four-hit games as a professional, five have come this season -- three with Double-A Tulsa and two in the past four games with Oklahoma City. MLB.com's No. 31 overall prospect is batting .519/.567/.815 with 11 runs scored and four RBIs in less than a week's worth of games. Combined with his numbers in the Texas League, the Wisconsin native has produced a .332/.393/.549 slash line with 30 extra-base hits, 56 runs and 41 RBIs in 70 games.
Those numbers are impressive yet par for the course for Lux. Outside of 2017, when he hit a career-low .244 with Class A Great Lakes -- his first full-season campaign as a 19-year-old -- the infielder has never batted lower than .296.
According to Coolbaugh, that type of success is a credit to Lux's style of hitting and his ability to put the ball where he wants to.
"We talk so much about launch angle and exit [velocity]," the former Major Leaguer said. "but for me, hitters that are in a nice rhythm are not missing their pitch. That's the biggest thing for him right now. Whether he's getting a pitch early in the count or when he has two strikes, he's squaring the ball up and putting it in play with some authority. He's not missing those pitches or fouling them off. Plus, defenses can't shift on him. He'll hit the ball to all fields, lay down a bunt ... there's a lot of dimensions to his game that you don't normally see from a player that young."

Lux paced Oklahoma City's 16-hit attack, but there was a lot of production in the lineup. Joe reached safely five times and fell a triple shy of the cycle while driving in three runs. Dodgers No. 10 prospect DJ Peters, Shane Peterson and Zach Reks had two RBIs apiece. Ben Moore, Jon Kemmer and Peterson all went deep.
Working with an early lead, righty Daniel Corcino (6-3) held the Express to two runs over six innings. The 28-year-old allowed three hits -- including two home runs -- and tied a season high with five walks while striking out four.
Jack Mayfield belted a pair of solo homers and Joshua Rojas also went deep while adding two doubles and two RBIs for Round Rock.
Rogelio Armenteros (3-6) was charged with a season-high six runs on seven hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings in the loss.