Robert’s career-best year ends with stint on IL
CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox placed All-Star outfielder Luis Robert Jr. on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday, ending his career-best season.
Robert left Sunday’s 3-2 win at Boston in the second inning. The slugger has a mild MCL sprain in his left knee, and the team said rest should be enough for him to recover in two to four weeks.
“The prognosis came back really good that even if it was April, it would be a couple of weeks,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “He’ll have all of his offseason to prepare the way he needs to prepare for 2024.”
The White Sox also brought up veteran outfielder Tyler Naquin from Triple-A Charlotte. Right-hander Jimmy Lambert was placed on the 60-day injured list before the team’s series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The 26-year-old Robert set career highs with 38 homers, 80 RBI, 90 runs, 36 doubles and 20 steals in 145 games this year. He hit .264 with an .857 OPS in his fourth major league season.
“I’m proud of playing as many games as I did,” Robert said through a translator. “I’ve said to you guys that if I’m ever to play every day, I know I’m able to do good things on the field. That’s why to me it’s the biggest accomplishment for me this year.”
While Robert had a terrific season, the White Sox flopped. They had a 60-96 record going into their matchup with the Diamondbacks.
“It’s definitely difficult because you try to do your best to help the team. But sometimes that isn’t enough,” Robert said. “You as an individual, you have to realize that you have to go out and do your best no matter what.”
The 32-year-old Naquin was acquired in an Aug. 7 trade with Milwaukee for cash. He is a .264 hitter with 61 homers and 237 RBI in 557 big league games.
Lambert was placed on the 15-day IL on Sept. 4. He had arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle last week.
Right-hander Michael Kopech also is on the mend after he had surgery on Friday to remove a cyst from his right knee. Kopech is expected to recover in six to eight weeks.
The 27-year-old Kopech went 5-12 with a 5.43 ERA in 30 games this season, including 27 starts.
“Obviously in speaking with him, and I know he would say this right now, he wanted better results but there were plenty of positive takeaways in that,” general manager Chris Getz said. “Now we get his knee healthy, have a normal offseason and build toward being a starter for next season.”
Getz was promoted to GM after executive vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn were fired on Aug. 22. The new front office began to take shape when the team hired Josh Barfield (assistant GM), Brian Bannister (senior advisor to pitching) and Gene Watson (director of player personnel) last week.
Getz said he has been taking a closer look at certain areas within the organization, including the major league day-to-day operations.
“For me, it’s coming in here and (figuring out) foundationally where are we with different departments so we can avoid these extreme swings,” he said. “That’s been the focus and will remain (the focus). As we move through October and November, we’ll start focusing more on what we need to do to put the best team forward for next year and years further.”
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