KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Luis Robert Jr. landed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a Grade 2 right hip flexor strain, adding another dour layer to the White Sox’ disastrous start this season.
Infielder Lenyn Sosa was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte and was in the lineup at second base for the 3-0 loss to the Royals on Saturday. Dominic Fletcher played Robert’s position in center field and, with a leaping attempt in the seventh inning of a scoreless game, deflected MJ Melendez’s two-run, tiebreaking homer over the wall.
On three hits against Michael Wacha and two relievers, the Sox were shut out for the third time, so ultimately the outcome of that play mattered little. The Royals, after being blanked for six innings by Sox right-hander Chris Flexen, batted around and scored three in the seventh.
The Sox (1-7) have lost at least seven of eight to start a season for the third time in franchise history, after 1995 (1-7) and 1968 (0-8).
They have scored an anemic 13 runs in eight games, the fewest in the majors, and now they’ll have to carry on for a lengthy time without their top offensive threat, Robert.
Manager Pedro Grifol wouldn’t speculate on how long Robert will be out but said it will be more than 10 days. Robert suffered a Grade 3 tear in 2021 and missed about three months. It’s not unreasonable to think a Grade 2 will keep him off the field for several weeks.
“There really isn’t [a timeline],” Grifol said. “He’s a premium athlete who works his [butt] off in the offseason. When you have an injury like this, you can predict a time, but you really don’t know how that body’s going to recover, especially when you’ve built up the work capacity he’s built up. There’s really no telling. It’s not as bad as it was last time; that’s really good. So we’ll see how it goes.”
In the Sox’ 2-1 loss to the Royals on Friday, Robert was hurt as he rounded first base after hitting a double into the left-field corner in the ninth inning.
Also on Friday, Eloy Jimenez was put on the IL, retroactive to April 2, leaving the Sox without their 3-4 hitters for at least the rest of a road trip that concludes in Cleveland next week.
“We can’t spend one minute thinking about we lost Robert, we lost Eloy and feeling sorry for ourselves,” Grifol said. “We’ve got 26 major-leaguers right here ready to go. There’s another club over there on the other side trying to kick our [butt]. We’ve got to rise to the occasion; we’ve got to perform. That’s it.”
Robert said he was so upset about the injury that he couldn’t sleep Friday night.
“Not quite the same [as 2021],’’ he said. “This time it’s in the same area but a different spot.
“They’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to proceed. I don’t think it’s going to be as long as the first time.”
Robert won his first Silver Slugger Award and was the Sox’ only All-Star last season. He established career highs in games (145), home runs (38), RBI (80), total bases (296) and extra-base hits (75). He was 6-for-28 with two home runs and four RBI in seven games this season.
For the last five years, staying healthy as an offense largely built around Robert, Jimenez and Yoan Moncada has been a challenge.
“For whatever reason, we can’t play the full lineup together the whole time,” Robert said. “That’s the hardest part.”
The hardest thing now is simply winning games.
“Just have to trust that it’s a long season, a lot of baseball to be played,” Fletcher said. “Keep playing hard and showing up and grinding every day.”
“We’re going through a really bad stretch right now offensively,” Grifol said. “But that’s not who these guys are. They’re proven major-league hitters.”
