2025 has been the worst season of Luis Robert Jr.'s career by a wide margin. And unfortunately for the Chicago White Sox, it was the one year they were betting on his talent to result in production.
White Sox GM Chris Getz turned down a number of trade offers for Robert Jr. during the offseason, reportedly holding out for two of a team's Top 10 prospects.
If Robert had a big year, the White Sox would get a huge haul to accelerate their rebuild. But if Robert failed to produce, his value would only continue to plummet for where it was in December.
With a .190 batting average and an OPS of .599 in the first half., Luis Robert Jr. picked the worst time imaginable to have a three month slump. It's made him the center of attention at the MLB trade deadline for all the wrong reasons.
Luis Robert Jr. named "Least Valuable Player" in baseball
The Athletic's Jayson Stark recently named Luis Robert Jr. the Least Valuable Player (LVP) in his midseason awards column.
Obviously, in terms of literal value, Robert Jr. is far from the worst player in the league. His defense and baserunning alone have kept his fWAR out of the negatives this season (0.1 fWAR in 2025).
But when you contextualize Robert's struggles with the current state of the White Sox and the position the organization is in, it's hard to find a player more detrimental to the long-term success of their team.
"The White Sox didn't ask much of their famous center fielder this year: Just try not to pop any hamstrings ... and try not to be terrible. Oh, well. He went 0-for-2," wrote Stark in his column.
As one of Stark's friends put it, "He has one job - to get himself traded, and he's failing!"
Stark went on to highlight that Luis Robert Jr. has the worst batting average of any AL hitter with 275 plate appearances. His average has been below .200 in every month this season. Robert Jr. has 89 strikeouts and only 47 hits, which is rather pathetic for a once All-Star centerfield and MVP candidate.
While his speed is certainly an asset, it's completely null and void if he doesn't get on base. Out of the 60 times Luis Robert Jr. has led off an inning this season, he has only recorded eight (8) hits.
Robert Jr. also has a .123 average in high-leverage situations. He is 3-for-21 in the ninth inning this year with 13 strikeouts.
No matter how you slice it, Luis Robert Jr. has been awful this season. White Sox fans will be the first to tell you that. It is getting to the point where it might not be an extended slump, but rather the player that he is now.
It's anyone's guess what "broke" Robert Jr. after a 38 homer, 4.9 fWAR season in 2023. But he hasn't looked like that player in a long time. Whoever trades for him at the deadline (if anyone) will likely end up just as frustrated as White Sox fans have been for the last two seasons.