Luis Robert Jr. has MVP potential, Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol says — if the center fielder can stay healthy
Chicago White Sox fans might notice something slightly different about Luis Robert Jr. this season.
Namely, the “Jr.” added to the back of the center fielder’s uniform.
It began with a question from his father.
“He was messing around with me: ‘Why is everybody using Jr. and you’re not?’” Robert said through an interpreter Friday at Camelback Ranch. “In Cuba, we are not used to it. But here, he started seeing other players doing it and he started going: ‘Why are you not doing it? Are you going to do it?’
“I said, ‘You want me to do it?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ So that’s why I started doing it.”
Robert, 25, is hoping everyone sees more of him in uniform after two seasons disrupted by injuries.
“Due to the injuries, I couldn’t play as many games as I wanted to — unfortunately, that has been the case the last couple years,” Robert said. “But I think in the time I spent on the field, I had good results, had good stats.
“The team, too many ups and downs (last season). We never figured out how to be consistent. But I think this year is going to be a better year for us.”
A healthy Robert is an impactful Robert.
He slashed .338/.378/.567 with 13 home runs and 43 RBIs in 68 games in 2021 but missed three months with a torn right hip flexor.
Robert had a .284/.319/.426 slash line with 12 homers, 56 RBIs, 54 runs and 11 stolen bases in 97 games in 2022. A sprained left wrist hampered him late in the season, to the point he swung one-handed in instances during an Aug. 25 game in Baltimore.
Robert tried to play when possible but went 1-for-28 (.036) after that game. He had slashed .407/.462/.627 in his previous 17 games. The Sox placed him on the injured list Sept. 24 and he missed the final 11 games.
First-year Sox manager Pedro Grifol believes Robert’s ceiling is high.
“This guy has an opportunity to win an MVP,” Grifol said. “If he puts it all together, it’s special. We’ve all seen the power, we’ve seen the speed, we’ve seen the way he runs out there in center field, how he plays defense and steals bases.
“There’s really nothing he can’t do on a baseball field. We just have to keep him on the field for 162.”
Grifol spent time with Robert in Miami during the offseason.
“A dynamic player, hungry,” Grifol said. “We have a few guys who have the capabilities of doing really special things in this game, and obviously he’s one of them. ... I’m really looking forward to watching him play 162 games.”
Robert had an active offseason.
“I spent more time on the field, running, doing more defense and hitting, doing the same kind of drills we usually do here at spring training,” he said. “There were different things that I did during the offseason. In the past, I just went to the gym, hit in the cage and there were a couple days I went to the field. And when I got here at spring training, things were a little slow, different.
“I wanted to change things this year. That is why I made the decision to spend more time on the field.”
Robert also is preparing for the World Baseball Classic. He and Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada will play for Team Cuba.
“I’m very happy with it,” Robert said. “That was something that I was dreaming of when I was in Cuba. Actually, I was pretty close to going to the World Baseball Classic last time (in 2017). That was the year that I made the decision to come here. I missed the WBC that time. I’m very happy to be present there.
“I had to do more stuff earlier than I usually do because I wanted to get ready for when I got here to spring training, I wanted to be ready for the World Baseball Classic. I wanted to do more stuff earlier than usual just to be sure I’d be healthy and in shape for the World Baseball Classic.”
