Seeing Carthage baseball coach Augie Schmidt IV throwing indoor batting practice to Gavin Lux is hardly an unusual sight at Carthage's McNamara Indoor Baseball/Softball Facility.  That's been going on since about 2007 when the then-10-year-old Lux first started coming around.  What's different now is that Augie is throwing his renditions of fastballs and cutters to a Major League Baseball player.
 

Here's the family connection:  Lux is Augie's nephew.  Lux' parents are Tom and Heather Lux of Kenosha.  Heather, a Carthage graduate, is Augie's sister.  Both Heather and Augie are the offspring of former Carthage baseball coach and athletic director Augie Schmidt III and his wife, Alice.  Gavin attended Kenosha's Indian Trail High School, where he batted .560 his senior year and was named the Holy Rosary Sports Night "Male Athlete of the Year" and the Wisconsin "Gatorade "Baseball Player of the Year."
 
After graduating in 2016, Lux was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 20th pick overall in that year's MLB Draft.  After the draft, Lux was assigned to Ogden in the Pioneer League, moved up to the Class A Great Lakes Loons in Midland, Mich., the next year, high Class A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa in 2018 and both Tulsa and Triple A Oklahoma City in 2019 before making his major league debut with the Dodgers in September 2019.  2020 was a lost season due to the pandemic, but Lux was ranked the Dodgers' top minor league prospect in 2020 by Baseball America.  He made the Dodgers' Opening Day roster in 2021 as the team's starting second baseman.

 
In mid-May 2021, Los Angeles shortstop Corey Seager went on the injured list with a fractured hand, and Lux slid over from second base to shortstop.  On July 19, Lux himself went on the injured list with a hamstring injury.  Meanwhile, at the July 31 trade deadline, L.A. acquired infielder Trea Turner in a trade with the Washington Nationals, while reactivating Seager the day before.  Lux was reactivated on Aug. 17 but was now a man without a position.  He was sent down to Triple-A on Aug. 26 for a crash course on playing the outfield.  The Dodgers brought him back on Sept. 10, and he played outfield for the rest of the season, including an Oct. 3 appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium.  For the year, Lux hit .242 with 12 doubles, four triples, seven home runs and 46 RBI in 102 games. (27 at second base, one at third, 59 at shortstop, 11 in left field, six in center field and one in right).
 
I caught up with Lux on a balmy January 12 at McNamara Indoor Baseball/Softball Facility.  After watching 30 minutes of batting practice, we talked.  "I've been home since the last week of October," said Lux.  "I work out in the morning at a gym in New Berlin, Wis., and then I drive back here where Augie throws me batting practice in the afternoon.  That's pretty much my everyday routine.  The MLB lockout hasn't changed my off-season routine very much, so far.  Whether we report in mid-February and start spring training on time remains to be seen, but I'm just getting ready for the season, whenever it starts."
 

"Last season had its up and downs for me and some inconsistencies," admits Lux.  "I had some mechanical stuff with my swing that I had to grind through.  I spent a lot of time looking back at 2018 and 2019 hitting videos of me and tried to piece some stuff together.  As you mature, your body changes.  I changed physically over the year, and so looking at old videos isn't always such a good idea.  I think I got stuck in the cycle of doing that a little too much.  Right now, I'm just moving toward the next season and trying to be as consistent as possible over a 162-game season, because that's what it's really all about."
 
Early in the off-season, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman seemed to hint that Lux wouldn't be traded prior to the start of the season.  His thinking was probably guided by first baseman/third baseman Max Muncy suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow on the last day of the regular season, along with the planned shift of Trea Turner to shortstop.  Free agent Corey Seager was expected to depart, and, in fact, signed a 10-year contract with the Texas Rangers on Dec. 1, presumably opening second base up for Lux.  That scenario shifted somewhat when L.A. re-signed Chris Taylor to a four-year contract to serve as a "super utility" infielder.  So, we'll see.  "The trade rumors don't affect me anymore," said Lux.  "I've been dealing with those stories for three or four years now, and I've gotten used to my name floating around.  I think it's mostly a good thing that other teams are watching you, and that you're valued in other places.  I don't look into those stories as much as I did when I was 19 years old."
 
When asked what it's like being around campus this winter, Lux replied "In one way, it's funny being around this year.  I was always the young guy at Carthage baseball workouts and trying to jump in line for batting practice.  Augie used to tell me, "Get in there.  These guys are only going to be here a few years—you're going to be around a lot longer than that."  Now I'm the old guy, and people look at me in a different way.  It's kind of funny, but Carthage has been in my family forever.  My grandfather [Augie Schmidt III] coached here.  My mother and my cousin [Augie's daughter, Chelsea] went to school here, and Augie is still here."
 
What does Augie have to say about all that?  "Having Gavin around this winter is the same as it's always been in a lot of ways," said Schmidt, "but it's also different.  He's a big league ballplayer now, and you can kind of see that by everyone else's reaction to him.  To me, he's still Gavin, and we do everything the same way.  I throw, he hits, and we talk about that.  We're doing all the same things we've always done together, but now it's really special.  It's been quite a story of how he's gotten to this point in his career, and I got to watch him on national television for three-quarters of a season last year, and that was awesome."
 
"Augie and I talked almost every day during the season," pointed out Lux, "and talking to him has become part of my daily routine.  Typically, I'd come to the field, get some lunch, go the dugout and call Augie.  He has the MLB package on his television, and he watches pretty much every game.  We go over my at bats from the previous day, so sometimes the conversation is all about approach stuff and mechanics, especially during the season.  But we actually talk more about the mental part of the game than the physical part.  He was in professional baseball, and he gets that part about playing baseball at a really high level.  It's really great to have someone like that who's been in your shoes and can relate to how you're feeling.  I'm really lucky to have that relationship."
 
"When we talked last summer," said Schmidt, "I told him that what he was going through, getting hurt and changing positions, was very, very difficult for a young player.  He played shortstop when Cory Seager got hurt, and he struggled with the bat, but he held down the position just fine.  The Dodgers won a ton of games with him at shortstop, and he did a great job.  Then they moved him to second and then third base, and then the big kicker was moving to the outfield.  I've worked with him for 16 years, and I never hit him a fly ball.  When he called and told me that he was starting in leftfield, I said 'Are you kidding me?'  But what he's doing is difficult, and I've told him to cut himself some slack and don't try to be perfect.  Just go out and play.  He needs to stop over-thinking and just enjoy the experience.  I tell all of my players the same thing.  So, 2021 was a mental challenge for Gavin, but I think that challenge will define him as he moves forward.  He went through a lot of bad stuff, but he came out at the end and did really well.  I think that's going to springboard his whole career."
 
And how about those 2022 Firebirds?  "I've seen a lot of really, really good freshmen in the cage so far," declared Lux, "and I think that group is going to be fun to watch over the next few years.  They've definitely got some guys who can swing it and a few pretty good pitching arms.  This team is really young, but I think they're going to be really good."  When that happens, somebody from the Los Angeles Dodgers, or maybe another MLB team, will be pulling for them.