PORT ST. LUCIE — Luis Robert Jr.’s various lower body injuries over the last two seasons have largely prevented him from maintaining the level he reached in his 2023 All-Star season with the White Sox.
A physical specimen, the 28-year-old outfielder has only once in his first six seasons surpassed 110 games played. All the talk of his new team, the Mets, unleashing Robert’s potential begins with keeping him on the field.
“The more games I play, the more opportunity I have to have success and, yes, for me the ultimate goal is to be able to stay out on the field,” Robert said Tuesday through an interpreter. “And once I am able to stay out on the field, I think things are going to turn out the way that I want.”
The Mets saw enough potential in him to last month trade Luisangel Acuña and Truman Pauley to the White Sox for Robert.
It was a move that caught Robert, who had already begun shipping equipment to the White Sox spring training complex in Arizona, by surprise.
Robert had a dismal first half last season, but began showing life after the All-Star break. The fun was short-lived: By late August he was on the injured list with a left hamstring strain, and he never returned to action for the White Sox.
He appeared in 110 games and produced a .223/.297/.364 slash line with 14 homers and 53 RBIs with 33 stolen bases.
“Once the offseason started the focus was to strengthen the parts of mostly the injuries I have dealt with up until now,” Robert said. “That has been the same focus, to try to strengthen everything and make sure I am ready for the season.”
Robert has gold and silver on his resume. He won a Gold Glove in 2020 and a Silver Slugger in 2023, a season in which he blasted 38 homers and posted an .857 OPS.
“The tools are there — elite power, the defensive speed,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “When he is healthy, we saw it in 2023, a lot of the things he can do.”
The Mets won’t push him too hard too fast. Mendoza said the plan is to exclude Robert from early Grapefruit League action, allowing him to build up his legs. Robert will still participate in daily workouts with the team.
It’s an approach the team is also taking with Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty to ensure their health. Alvarez is returning from thumb ligament surgery and Baty reported to camp with hamstring tightness, according to Mendoza.
“I know that’s the type of process that they have,” Robert said. “I trust in them and whatever they have because they want what’s best for me.”
The Mets have other options for center field, most notably top position player prospect Carson Benge and defensive whiz Tyrone Taylor. Benge could win the starting right field job.
Robert was asked the difference between his old surroundings and his new ones.
“It’s just the amount of people that are around,” he said. “When you come to a team like this the expectations are to win. When you have these goals and expectations there are obviously going to be more eyes on the team. I think that has been the biggest difference.”
How did he respond to the news that he had been traded?
“Once I got traded I really can’t explain the emotions that I had,” Robert said. “I was excited, nervous. Sometimes you hear a lot about New York and how big it can be and to play with as many stars as I was going to play with them. I knew I was going to be entering a different stage of my career.”
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