Luis Robert Jr. returns to a smattering of boos — and a White Sox team that has thrived without him
From the time he was signed as a lauded prospect in 2017 to winning a Gold Glove as a rookie for a seemingly ascendant playoff team in 2020 to being the most talented player on three consecutive 100-plus-loss teams, Luis Robert Jr. was always central to the White Sox
‘‘One of the guys I was really excited to manage, getting this job,’’ manager Will Venable said.
On Friday, Robert returned through the visitors’ entrance to Rate Field — to Sox teammates who view him warmly and to a brief tribute on the scoreboard — as an afterthought. Also as a spectator, as Jake Rogers’ walk-off blast in the ninth inning sailed over his head to seal the Sox’ come-from-behind 6-4 victory.
After acquiring Robert in January, the Mets are having a disastrous season that cost manager Carlos Mendoza his job. That Robert remains after the team sold at the trade deadline reflects his diminished value. That’s because of the same issues that dogged his final years in Chicago.
‘‘It’s very sad,’’ Sox third baseman and close friend Miguel Vargas said. ‘‘I feel like we could have seen one of the greatest baseball players on the field if he stayed healthy.’’
For the third consecutive season, Robert has been more hurt than good. A herniated disk in his back has limited him to 50 games, and he has struggled when available, hitting .217/.294/.367 with seven home runs. With the Mets looking toward the future with young outfielder A.J. Ewing, Robert — who used to range over from center field to steal fly balls from Eloy Jimenez — was relegated to manning left.
‘‘This season has been pretty similar to how other parts of my career have gone, where I’ve been hurt, where I’ve been off the field,’’ Robert, still only 29, said through an interpreter. ‘‘You prepare yourself all offseason to be healthy; you work on your body. For it to happen the way that it did this season, this is really disappointing.’’
A tattoo on Robert’s right knee commemorates his 2023 Silver Slugger-winning season, when his 38 homers were thought to cement him as a power threat and the centerpiece of the Sox lineup. Instead, Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery has hit more homers than Robert since that season (48 to 35), despite not debuting in the majors until July 2025.
Even after launching the third of three consecutive Sox long balls in the sixth, Montgomery is only third in homers on a Sox team that leads the American League in runs per game in Robert’s absence. The Sox actually have not received huge returns from the players the Mets sent back for Robert. Ironically, it’s hard-throwing Jordan Hicks — whose contract the Red Sox also were looking to shed this winter — who has been the most useful player the Sox were able to add after moving Robert’s $20 million salary.
What best demonstrates the wisdom in the Sox finally ceasing their efforts to revive Robert’s star potential is the emergence of All-Star center fielder Tristan Peters, whom they acquired for cash from the Rays after he was designated for assignment in December.
But Sox players and coaches still look at Robert and see someone who was on the ground floor for the beginning of their turnaround last season and could have fit in with their fun-loving ascent to playoff contention this summer.
Assuming he could have stayed healthy, that is. He couldn’t, obviously. He hopes there are no hard feelings about it, but the boos mixed into his reception suggested otherwise.
‘‘This is a team that I was with a long time,’’ Robert said. ‘‘It will always have a special place in my heart, so I keep tabs on the results of the games, and I’m really proud to see how they’ve been performing this season. Those last few years, we didn’t get the job done the way that we wanted to. But at the same time, I can look back at it as a beautiful journey.’’