Determined Robert back in White Sox's lineup, hits clutch HR in win over Cubs
Luis Robert Jr. sat out the White Sox's weekend series against the Brewers at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Sox were swept by Milwaukee.
Coincidence? Probably not - the first-place Brewers are a better team.
But with Robert sidelined by a sprained lefty pinkie, Milwaukee was a much better team than the Sox in the three-game set.
Moving over to Wrigley Field Tuesday for the first of two games against the Cubs, the White Sox were again facing a better team. That tends to happen quite a bit when you've got the fourth-worst record (48-72) in MLB.
But Robert was back in the lineup against the Cubs, giving the Sox a needed boost in their 5-3 win.
"I'm not 100 percent, but I think I can play," Robert said through a translator.
Even when he's not completely healthy, the 26-year-old center fielder is the White Sox's best player by far and one of the game's top all-around talents.
That showed a bit in the first inning when he blooped a single to left field off Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks.
It really showed in the seventh, when Robert snapped a 3-3 tie with a 422-foot solo home run off reliever Julian Merryweather.
After a stylish bat flip on the homer, Robert shushed some unruly Cubs fans in the crowd when he crossed home plate and headed back to the dugout.
"That was passion right there," shortstop Elvis Andrus said. "I think the fans were saying something funny, that was a way from him to show who's the boss today. I always love seeing passion from players. Sometimes people don't like it but I love it, man. It's part of the game and in the right moment."
Staying on the field has been Robert's biggest challenge in the early stages of his career, but his finger issue was minor and Tuesday was his 114th game of the season.
Robert came into the game ranked second in the American League with 31 home runs while hitting .271/.325/.563 with 30 doubles, 65 RBI and 16 stolen bases. He also is making a strong push at winning his second Gold Glove.
"I said it before, my goal this year is to play as many games as I can," Robert said. "I won't let any minor issues or soreness or stuff keep me out of the field. I'm going to do everything in my power to play every day and have a strong finish to the season.
"That's my goal, to try to be able to finish this season strong and if I have to get extra treatment before the game to be able to play, I'll do it because that's my goal."
Robert is making a strong push to join Magglio Ordonez as the only player in Sox history to finish the season with 30 or more doubles and home runs and 20 or more stolen bases.
He injured his pinkie stealing third base against the Yankees last Wednesday. Records are fine, but White Sox manager Pedro Grifol has talked to Robert about being careful running the bases.
"I've talked to him all year about stealing bases and I said, 'Look, bases that don't mean that much to us, I want you to stay away from. Bases that are going to help us win games, those are the ones I want you to steal,'" Grifol said. "Will that eliminate probably 15 to 20 a year? Maybe. But I also want to keep him healthy. A lot of his injuries have been diving head first."
Even if he misses more time with injuries down the stretch, it's still been a breakout season for Robert. Unfortunately for the Sox, it's been a season to forget.
"It's been difficult, for sure," Robert said. "The results aren't the ones we were expecting. And it's even more difficult because when you have a good game, you aren't able to celebrate. You can't because you have to respect the team, you have to respect your teammates and we're a team.
"But at the end of the day we are all here as a team and we play as a team. The individual accolades are good, but we are here as a team."