What do you think of when you think of Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr? Some may think about his power, his ability to effectively steal bases, or his ability to race to catch a ball coming at him in center field.
Others may think of him as someone that has not lived up to his potential due to injuries and seemingly ineffective play at the plate.
But this year will be different for Robert Jr. as he settles in and tries to help lift this team toward a playoff berth. He has struggled with injuries in the past, including the 2021 and 2022 seasons where he only played in 68 and 98 games respectively.
His ability to stay on the field has been an issue for Robert Jr. and hopes are that this year he manages to stay healthy this year and can contribute to and play in many more games.
The Chicago White Sox need Luis Robert to be amongst the best.
Let’s say that Robert Jr. does manage to stay healthy and play a lot more games this season. What kind of statistics could he put up if he remains healthy and plays in a majority of the games for the White Sox?
Let’s figure that he plays in 130 games, missing 32 games for rest or recovery from minor injuries. Maybe that’s not a realistic number considering his past health history. But if he manages to play that many games, his stats should explode.
If Robert Jr. gets the opportunities at the plate, I think that he could get around 175 hits. Last year he had 109 hits in 380 plate appearances.
His RBI numbers will increase and I think that he could drive in 70 to 80 RBI over the course of the 2023 season. In 2022, Robert had 56 RBI. Home runs would creep up a bit too from 12 last year to about 25 this year which is a respectable number.
What about average? In 2022, Robert Jr. had an average of .284. I think that will creep up just a bit to .290 maybe even .295.
We will see how he does but in all reality, these numbers are certainly not out of the realm of possibility for him.
When Robert Jr. does get going, he could easily be unstoppable. He’s ranked as one of the top outfielders and hitters in Major League Baseball (he is ranked 86th in the MLB Top 100 rankings for 2023).
It’s thought, by experts, that he could have a breakout season this year as long as he stays off the trainer’s table.
I would expect the same.
The time for Robert Jr. to shine is now. He needs to step up and play like everyone thought he would play when he entered the league just a few short seasons ago.
He’s got the pedigree and the talent. Now he just has to put it all together. The White Sox could really utilize him to get to their ultimate goal of winning a World Series championship or at least making the playoffs.