It’s one of those things that we often hear baseball broadcasters say: “He had a good at-bat.”
But what exactly is “a good at-bat?” – Is it a base hit? A double? A triple? A home run? I mean, how can you argue that any of these is not “a good at-bat,” right?
Truth be told, a so-called “good at-bat” more often than not results in a walk; one in which the batter makes the pitcher throw more than five or six pitches by fouling off several of them.
During Saturday’s Spring Training game between the Dodgers and Seattle Mariners at the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, AZ, Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux had “a good at-bat.” It was a seven-pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk. And while some may argue that the seventh pitch of the at-bat could have been called strike three, it was definitely a borderline outside pitch that home plate umpire Chris Guccione called ball four.
The point here is not to argue balls and strikes. The point here is that Lux didn’t like the location of the pitch enough to swing at it with two outs in the top of the first inning and Dodgers centerfielder Cody Bellinger on first base, resulting in “a good at-bat.”
Unfortunately, the next batter, Dodgers third baseman Edwin Rios, grounded out to second on the third pitch of his at-bat for the third out of the inning, which sent Lux’s “good at-bat” into oblivion.
Nonetheless, “good at-bat,” Gavin!
Play Ball!
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Lux better step up his game and get more quality at-bats. Michael Busch has looked terrific with the bat while playing good defense at second base. And, Miguel Vargas looks like a bat looking for a position.