CHICAGO -- Luis Robert Jr. was scheduled to return to the lineup for Thursday afternoon’s 3-2 White Sox victory in 10 innings during their series finale against the Tigers at Rate Field after taking a two-day respite to work on swing adjustments and approach.
But when the lineup was released Thursday morning, there was no Robert at center field or designated hitter or anywhere else. A batting cage mishap led to an extra day off for the five-tool talent.
“He was in the cage yesterday hitting, and a ball ricocheted and hit him in the head,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “So just give him -- as a precaution -- one extra day. He’ll be fine and back in there tomorrow.
“He got checked out, yeah. It was a good blow. But he is fine, no concussion.”
Robert has been predominantly healthy for the 2025 campaign, aside from dealing with occasional bouts of right knee soreness. That scenario is a major plus for the frequently injured 27-year-old. He also is tied for the American League lead (with Kansas City's Bobby Witt Jr.) with 21 stolen bases, showing his wide array of on-field influences.
Unfortunately, Robert is not hitting well. He entered Thursday with a dismal .177/.266/.286 slash line, five home runs, six doubles and 20 RBIs over 221 plate appearances. He has not gone deep since May 2 against Houston, with these struggles producing the idea of focused cage work over game activity.
“A lot of it was about really just challenging him, and putting him in spots to hit some velo," Venable said. "Just do some different things, and try to be aggressive and athletic. It sounds like it went well, and he’s feeling good. For anybody to make adjustments in this game is really hard.
“Then separately, to perform and deal with the pressure of performing, it's hard to do at the same time, which is really challenging. It’s to his benefit for sure to be able to work on this stuff without going out there, and playing just for a short period of time here.”
While Robert has been away from game activity, he certainly hasn’t been away from work. From players to coaches to front office people alike, Robert often is praised for his diligence and a willingness to learn.
“There’s been stuff that he’s been asked to do, also that he wants to do and again these last couple of days have been extremely productive where throughout the day he has things scheduled,” Venable said. “It’s not kind of 'just hit in the cage and hang out.' He’s been working this entire time.”
No Robert against a Detroit team with the best record in baseball? No Miguel Vargas until he flew out as a pinch-hitter to end the eighth? No detriment to the White Sox (20-43) taking two of the final three in this four-game set after losing 13-1 on Monday. The White Sox improved to 14-17 at home, showing one step of a team starting to learn how to succeed.
Coming back after Monday’s drubbing, which followed three straight losses in Baltimore, is another good sign.
“We kind of talked all week: They have the best record in baseball and we hung with them,” said White Sox starter Sean Burke, who allowed two earned runs with five strikeouts over a career-high seven innings. “We saw it even in New York [vs. the Mets]. We only won one game, but we are playing those teams tough. Just trying to take those as little wins and move forward.”
“I hope that the more we see it, the more we buy into it,” center fielder Michael A. Taylor said. “It's just a choice day in and day out to go about it a certain way."
Taylor knocked out two hits and scored a run, Josh Rojas added three hits and Chase Meidroth reached base five times with two singles and three walks. Tim Elko delivered the one-out single to score automatic runner Korey Lee for the White Sox in the 10th, marking the first walk-off hit of the rookie’s brief Major League career.
Elko had struck out three times in his previous four trips to the plate.
“My first few at-bats definitely weren't my best, but in baseball you've got to have a quick memory and learn from your mistakes, then move on to the next one,” Elko said. “So I was able to just kind of put those in the past, and focus on that last at bat.”
“We're playing really good. We're pushing,” said catcher Edgar Quero, who had two hits. “We're trying to run the bases really good. We're taking good ABs. Pitchers are doing their job. That's pretty good."