A rule of thumb in baseball is that you never make the first or third out of an inning at third base. Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux did that on Thursday and paid a painful price.
Lux tried to go from first to third on a bloop single from Mookie Betts. Arizona Diamondbacks right fielder Jake McCarthy came aggressively charged the ball and made a strong throw to third base to throw Lux out.
— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) May 27, 2022
Lux was clearly shaken up on the play. And with a replay, we can see why. Arizona third baseman Josh Rojas made a hard tag on Lux, catching him in a sensitive area.
Gavin Lux gets smashed in the nuts on a tag. pic.twitter.com/1c2X3XgezS
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 27, 2022
The play was also reviewed, which probably worked as both a positive and negative for Lux. The positive is obvious — he got some well-earned time to heal. What was the negative? The play was shown at the stadium, giving Lux the chance to relive the play — in slow motion.
Gavin Lux is in pain. They’re showing a slow-mo replay of the Willson Contreras-like tag that caused that pain on the big screen. Insult to injury.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 27, 2022
And to make matters even worse, the call was upheld. Though, the silver lining there is that Lux at least didn’t have to stay on the field as a baserunner. Still, the whole experience could not have been fun.
Those who saw the unfortunate play had a lot to say about it.
hey man, trust me: no baserunning decision deserves a swift tag in the nuts https://t.co/WUCIIPe2CU
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 27, 2022
Why you wear a cup. https://t.co/sjUQbffR6c
— DHacker615 🇺🇸 (@dhacker615) May 27, 2022
Gavin Lux will be feeling it tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/LENWNbUBFF
— Coooop10 (@victorioerwin51) May 27, 2022
https://twitter.com/Laplaceslaw11/status/1530017391710642176
Fortunately, this isn’t the kind of pain will often result in a long-term injury. In the short-term, though, all that we can say is ouch.
[Bally Sports: Arizona, Chad Moriyama, Fabian Ardaya]
