CHICAGO — When it’s rained, it’s poured for the Chicago White Sox this season, and another one of those May showers came in the form of all-star center fielder Luis Robert Jr experiencing a setback during his ongoing rehab from a right hip flexor strain this week, according to White Sox manager Pedro Grifol Thursday.
“He’s frustrated. I mean, he worked his butt off this offseason to have another season of 150-plus games,” Grifol said during pre-game media availability. “But it happened and the work he put in is helping him now. Setbacks, they’re a part of the rehab. It just didn’t set him back too far.”
Robert Jr. hobbled into second base after he hit a double in the ninth inning of the White Sox’s game against the Kansas City Royals on April 5. Ever since, he’s been parked on the injured list.
But just like he did a couple weeks ago at the last check-in on Robert Jr.’s progress toward returning to the field, Grifol expressed optimism on where his center fielder is in the rehab process.
“He’s running today, I think he’s up to like 70%,” Grifol said. “He had a little, minor setback a couple days ago, but he’s over that. We’ll see if we can get him up to 90% running here in the next five-to-seven days and then after that, we’ll take the next step.”
Once Robert Jr feels comfortable running at near full speed, Grifol said, “He’ll do a little bit of both” — Play backfield games at the team’s spring training facilities in the Arizona Complex League, before being placed higher up in their minor league system for a rehab assignment.
Chicago started game 1 of a three-game home series against the Cleveland Guardians Thursday. The White Sox (9-28) sit in last place in the American League Central, while the Guardians (24-13) sit atop the division.
