Rays' Gavin Lux will start the season on the injured list with right shoulder issue
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Gavin Lux’s debut with the Tampa Bay Rays is going to have to wait. The club is placing the veteran infielder on injured reserve with a right shoulder impingement.
The move means Richie Palacios will make the opening day roster for Tampa Bay. The Rays acquired Lux from Cincinnati in January as part of a three-team deal that sent outfielder Josh Lowe from Tampa Bay to the Los Angeles Angels. Los Angeles sent left-handed reliever Brock Burke to Cincinnati as part of the swap.
Lux, 28, hit . 269 with five homers and 53 RBIs last season with the Reds. A career .
256 hitter who won a pair of World Series titles with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lux agreed to a one-year, $5. 525 million contract shortly before being sent to Tampa Bay and can become a free agent after this year’s World Series. Lux struggled a bit in his first spring training with Tampa Bay, hitting .
190 in seven games and had been dealing with what manager Kevin Cash described as a “cranky” right shoulder in recent days.