White Sox fans received a positive update from GM Chris Getz regarding the status of injured center fielder Luis Robert Jr. over the weekend, with MLB.com’s Injury Tracker noting that the club believes Robert could return to the lineup in Chicago as soon as the middle of May.
According to Getz, Robert’s rehab has “been really positive” as he’s progressed to both running and hitting without issue.
If Robert could be back with the big league club in as little as two weeks, that would be excellent news for the White Sox. The 26-year-old suffered a grade 2 strain of his left hip flexor three weeks ago that was initially expected to sideline him for at least at weeks, with some club officials reportedly worrying that Robert would miss the entire first half.
The slugger appears to have avoided those worst-case-scenarios.
While Robert had been hitting a relatively pedestrian .214/.241/.500 through seven games at the time of his injury, he’ll nonetheless be an immediate upgrade to the outfield mix in Chicago upon his return even if he doesn’t regain the form that saw him finish 12th in NL MVP voting last year.
The White Sox are currently relying on newly-signed veteran Tommy Pham in center field in Robert’s absence, with Andrew Benintendi and Robbie Grossman holding down the outfield corners.
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