Chicago White Sox followers may discover one thing barely totally different about Luis Robert Jr. this season.
Namely, the “Jr.” added to the again of the middle fielder’s uniform.
It started with a query from his father.
“He was messing around with me: ‘Why is everybody using Jr. and you’re not?’” Robert mentioned via an interpreter Friday at Camelback Ranch. “In Cuba, we aren’t used to it. But right here, he began seeing different gamers doing it and he began 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 everybody sees extra of him in uniform after two seasons disrupted by accidents.
“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 mentioned. “But I believe within the time I spent on the sphere, I had good outcomes, 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 wholesome Robert is an impactful Robert.
He slashed .338/.378/.567 with 13 residence runs and 43 RBIs in 68 video games in 2021 however missed three months with a torn proper hip flexor.
Robert had a .284/.319/.426 slash line with 12 homers, 56 RBIs, 54 runs and 11 stolen bases in 97 video games in 2022. A sprained left wrist hampered him late within the season, to the purpose he swung one-handed in cases throughout an Aug. 25 recreation in Baltimore.
Robert tried to play when doable however went 1-for-28 (.036) after that recreation. He had slashed .407/.462/.627 in his earlier 17 video games. The Sox positioned him on the injured listing Sept. 24 and he missed the ultimate 11 video games.
First-year Sox supervisor Pedro Grifol believes Robert’s ceiling is excessive.
“This guy has an opportunity to win an MVP,” Grifol mentioned. “If he places all of it collectively, it’s particular. We’ve all seen the ability, we’ve seen the velocity, we’ve seen the best way he runs on the market in heart subject, how he performs protection 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 hung out with Robert in Miami through the offseason.
“A dynamic player, hungry,” Grifol mentioned. “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 energetic 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 mentioned. “There have been various things that I did through the offseason. In the previous, I simply went to the health club, hit within the cage and there have been a pair days I went to the sphere. And once I acquired right here at spring coaching, issues have been a little bit sluggish, totally different.
“I wanted to change things this year. That is why I made the decision to spend more time on the field.”
Robert is also getting ready for the World Baseball Classic. He and Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada will play for Team Cuba.
“I’m very happy with it,” Robert mentioned. “That was one thing that I used to be dreaming of once I was in Cuba. Actually, I used to be fairly near going to the World Baseball Classic final time (in 2017). That was the 12 months that I made the choice to come back right here. I missed the WBC that point. I’m very comfortable to be current 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.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com