Luis Robert Jr. has had a topsy-turvy season. In late April, he was benched for not running hard to first base, something he said he did to protect a tight hamstring but neglected to tell manager Pedro Grifol in an episode that seemed to highlight a plummeting team’s dysfunction.
Now in mid-May, Robert is hitting like one of the best players in baseball and the kind of performer the Sox expected when was anointed one of the centerpieces of their rebuild.
Entering Tuesday’s series opener with the Guardians, Robert has homered in three straight games. Over 13 games in May, Robert has a 1.442 OPS and has basically carried the Sox offense.
Teammate Jake Burger summarized what Robert has been doing recently.
“It’s incredible,” Burger said. “You’re just expecting him to hit a ball [with a 110-plus mph exit velocity] over the fence, so it’s really fun watching him, especially when he’s really hot.”
So, what’s changed?
In March/April when Robert hit just .213 and had a minuscule .254 on-base percentage, he walked only four times. Halfway through May, Robert has already drawn five walks and capitalized on pitchers giving him better pitches to hit, getting on base 50.9% of the time and slugging .933.
“I think that the results that I’m getting right now are part of all the work that I’ve been doing,” Robert said through a translator. “That’s really the only thing you can control, just the work that you can do. Sometimes you work hard and the results are there. Sometimes you keep working hard and the results aren’t there. But you still have to work. That’s all that I attribute my results to right now, just the hard work that I’ve been doing.”
Grifol has noticed that work. A focus has been on decision-making, which can make someone as talented as Robert extremely dangerous if it’s good.
“He can hit all kinds of pitches,” Grifol said. “He just has to make sure they are in the strike zone. He’s doing a really good job of preparing himself to do that.”
Robert said the only switch in preparation is that he’s gone back to drills he was doing during the offseason with his personal trainer and personal hitting coach.
“I haven’t been able to incorporate those to my work here,” Robert said. “But now I was able to do it.”
However Robert is getting these results, the Sox aren’t complaining. And they badly need what Robert is producing.
Eloy Jimenez, who was seen walking around Sunday and seemed to be in a typically jovial mood, is still in the early stages of his recovery from an emergency appendectomy. Andrew Benintendi and Tim Anderson are waiting for their first home runs of the season, and the Sox have only scored 11 runs over their past five games.
Robert has kept the Sox afloat somewhat during one of the best stretches of his career.
“I have had very good moments in my career in the majors,” Robert said. “I think the first month of my first year, my rookie year [in 2021], was very good. In 2021 after the [torn hip flexor] injury when I came back, I had a pretty good run too. And I feel good now. I think it’s just that I’ve been able to feel healthy and consistent, and the results are there.”
NOTE: The Sox are pushing Michael Kopech back to Friday against Kansas City and starting Dylan Cease on Thursday in the last game of the upcoming Cleveland series. Kopech pitched last Friday against the Astros, working 42⁄3 innings and throwing 94 pitches.
GUARDIANS AT SOX
Tuesday: Shane Bieber (3-1, 2.61 ERA) vs. Lance Lynn (1-5, 7.51), 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM
Wednesday: Peyton Battenfield (0-4, 4.45) vs. Mike Clevinger (2-3, 4.79), 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM
Thursday: Logan Allen (1-1, 3.43 ERA) vs. Dylan Cease (2-2, 4.86), 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH 1000-AM
