The Chicago White Sox have been putting themselves at a disadvantage all weekend and it’s hard to understand why.
White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr. was removed from last Wednesday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks with hamstring tightness. He was unceremoniously pinch hit for in the first inning, leading many baseball fans to speculate he had been traded.
Robert Jr. was not traded. It was another false alarm as he went down with another soft tissue injury. It certainly won't help his trade value, which is already at an all-time low thanks to his struggles at the plate this season.
Ahead of Sunday’s game series finale against the San Francisco Giants, the White Sox placed Robert Jr. on the 15-day Injured List with that same hamstring injury.
The team also announced that no corresponding move would be made before Sunday’s game. Someone is expected to be called from AAA prior to the White Sox next series starting on Tuesday.
Prior to today’s game vs. San Francisco, the Chicago White Sox placed outfielder Luis Robert Jr. on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to June 26) with a left hamstring strain.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) June 29, 2025
The Sox will make a corresponding roster move prior to Tuesday’s series opener at Los Angeles-NL.
White Sox are playing short-handed
For the entire weekend, the White Sox have been playing short-handed and choosing to play with only 25 healthy players on the active roster.
Robert’s injury was clearly serious enough to remove him from the game on Wednesday. The Sox then had an entire day to evaluate and Robert. He was not healthy enough to play at all over the weekend. But instead of placing him on the IL and giving someone else an opportunity, the White Sox chose to play down one man.
Brooks Baldwin and top prospect Colson Montgomery - who has been heating up this month and should be getting a call up before too long - are both worthy of getting some big league at-bats while Robert is down.
I’d also be interested in seeing what someone like Dominic Fletcher can bring to the table in the outfield.
Baldwin, Montgomery, or even Fletcher could have been getting those at-bats all weekend had the White Sox handled this thing differently.
Chicago has an off day on Monday and will travel to Los Angeles for a series with the Dodgers.