Luis Robert was a trendy MVP pick entering the 2022 season. There was a good reason for this. The 2020 Gold Glove Winner is one of just five active players with 140 hits, 20 home runs, and 15 stolen bases in their first 125 games, joining Mike Trout, Ronald Acuna Jr, Bo Bichette, and Fernando Tatis Jr. Robert was also riding some momentum. He batted .350/.389/.622 with 13 doubles, 12 home runs, and 35 RBIs during his final 43 games of 2021 after being reinstated from the injured list on August 9th.
Yet, for whatever reason, Robert could not take that next step from good to great. Plate discipline emerged as a huge issue. Only Oscar Gonzalez of the Cleveland Guardians swung at more pitches outside than Robert.
He still managed to post a 109 OPS+, but his season left everyone wanting more. While plate discipline needs work, injuries were the biggest culprit in limiting his production. He sprained his wrist sliding into second base during a home game against the Tigers on August 12th. He never looked the same afterward. Getting hit by a Logan Gilbert fastball on September 6th didn’t help matters. Bad habits began to develop.
Pretty sure Félix Bautista just made Luis Robert retire. 🏳️ pic.twitter.com/vlj79OnPKN
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 26, 2022
“That kind of backfired on what I was trying to do,” Robert admitted to reporters. Later adding, “I’m very confident, as soon as the discomfort goes away, I’m going to be able to swing the bat the way that I do without developing bad habits. The thing that developed the bad habits was my mind.”
The 25-year-old was in visible pain as he tried to swing the bat, sometimes resorting to a half-hearted one-handed swing. Since August 25th, Robert was 1 for 28 and had nine strikeouts.
“If, for whatever reason, I swing the bat in a bad way, I thought the pain will increase, Robert said. “It was something unconsciously I developed that bad habit trying to avoid that increased pain in my hand.”
Catcher Seby Zavala warned Robert about the bad habits he was developing. Zavala admitted that he nearly ruined his swing by trying to play through the pain in his hand. It took Zavala two years to shake the habits he developed while dealing with the discomfort.
Finally, with seven games remaining, the White Sox decided to shut him down for the season. It was a decision that was long overdue. Despite wanting to go to battle with his teammates for the final few games of the 2022 campaign, the White Sox centerfielder agreed with the decision.
“I think that’s the best decision that we could make, especially after you saw how I tried to help the team during those games,” Robert candidly told reporters. “I tried, and the team realized that even with my best effort, it wasn’t good enough to help them in a good way.”
“Yes, I asked them to let me try to play, but I also think it was my mistake because I didn’t realize at that moment that trying to do that, I wasn’t helping them. I wanted to play because the team was in a very good position. We were making a push to make the playoffs, and I wanted to be part of that and help the team. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do it.”
This is a classic case of the organization needing to protect the player from himself. Props to Robert for being a warrior and trying to play through obvious discomfort. While he can be commended for trying to gut it out, it was apparent within a couple of at-bats that he was not right. Everyone could see it. Yet the White Sox continued to pencil him in the lineup, which put the future of their franchise at risk and simultaneously threw away crucial at-bats.
Robert is scheduled to visit a hand specialist in the coming weeks. Surgery could be in the cards for him this offseason. He must rejoin the team fully healthy in 2023. Robert has yet to play 100 games in his first three big league seasons. This season alone, he was sidelined from COVID-19, blurred vision, and a groin issue. All of this was on top of the aforementioned wrist injury.
If the White Sox want to return to their winning ways, they need Robert on the field at 100 percent.
This is an indictment of the organization more than anything else.
I’m concerned for next season as well.