The Chicago White Sox are getting back a major piece of the puzzle on Monday. Manager Tony La Russa told reporters (including James Fegan of The Athletic) before Sunday's game that center fielder Luis Robert will join the team on Monday.
Robert has been out since May 2 when he tore his hip flexor and was expected to miss 12 to 16 weeks. The prognosis has ended up being pretty spot on, since it's been exactly 14 weeks on Sunday. Robert was having a big season when he went down. In his first 25 games, he hit .316/.359/.463 (127 OPS+). He's also an excellent defender in center field with range for days.
With Robert down, the White Sox have gotten by in center field with a combination of Brian Goodwin, Adam Engel, Leury Garcia and Billy Hamilton in center and none of those players comes close to the upside Robert provides.
Robert, 24, has played in 12 games on a minor-league rehab stint. He's hit .268/.388/.390. He went 2 for 4 with a home run on Thursday so he's ready to hit the ground running on Monday in Minnesota.
The White Sox recently got slugger Eloy Jiménez back from his serious injury and catcher Yasmani Grandal is on the comeback trail from his knee surgery to repair a torn tendon. Second baseman Nick Madrigal was out for the season when the White Sox traded him and replaced him via trade with Cèsar Hernández.
Just as the Jiménez return underlined, the Robert one will as well: The White Sox are starting to get closer to full strength. They came into Sunday with a 10 1/2 game lead in the American League Central, the largest division lead in the majors.
