PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (AP) — 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 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 $5.525 million, one-year 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.
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