{"id":578070,"date":"2026-02-17T20:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/578070\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T20:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:25:15","slug":"mets-will-work-in-luis-robert-jr-slowly-this-spring-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/578070\/","title":{"rendered":"Mets will work in Luis Robert Jr. slowly this spring training"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 When Luis Robert Jr. was traded to the Mets<\/a> in a late night deal last month, he had so many initial thoughts that he was unable to discern them all. There were nerves, which were to be expected after 10 years of playing only with the Chicago White Sox. There were also thoughts about playing with stars like Juan Soto. There was also the daunting idea of playing in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t really explain the proper emotions I had from being with Chicago the last 10 years,\u201d the center fielder said Tuesday at Clover Park, via a translator. \u201cI knew that I was going to be entering a different stage of my career, [but] I can\u2019t really explain what I felt immediately after the trade.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old Cuban was part of a group of prospects that were supposed to lead the White Sox back to prominence. For a while, the Sox seemed to be on the rise with those prospects. Robert was the runner-up for the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 2020 and won a Gold Glove award, while his teammates took home a ton of hardware as well. Jos\u00e9 Abreu was named the AL MVP, Eloy Jimenez and Tim Anderson won Silver Slugger awards, and the White Sox reached the postseason for the first time since 2008.<\/p>\n

A year later, they helped the team from Chicago\u2019s South Side capture the AL Central title.<\/p>\n

Then came the regression. A .500 season in 2022, 101 losses in 2023, and a record-setting 121 of them in 2024. Robert struggled to stay on the field. In 2023, he was named an All-Star for the first time, but was forced to pull out of the game because of calf tightness he suffered during the Home Run Derby.<\/p>\n

The Mets will work Robert in slower than other outfielders this spring to try to ensure he stays on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tools are there \u2014 you need power, the defense [and] the speed when he\u2019s healthy. We saw in 2023 a lot of the things that he can do,\u201d manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to keep them healthy, and we want to be proactive, so he\u2019s going to be on a progression. He won\u2019t be playing any games out of the gate. This is something that, when we traded for him, our trainers put their hands on him and identified some of the things \u2014 especially in the lower half \u2014 that need to be strengthened up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert is still going through full workouts with the team and will continue to do so. He just won\u2019t appear in any of the early Grapefruit League games with the Mets. It\u2019s a similar plan to the one the Mets used for Brandon Nimmo in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

There have also been questions about Robert\u2019s level of engagement in recent seasons. It\u2019s difficult to stay motivated on a team that is expected to do nothing but lose. Losing creates bad habits and it can breed team toxicity. The White Sox were forced to trade away many of those once-talented prospects, leaving Robert, who signed a six-year, $50 million contract before even appearing in a Major League game, as the player who had to carry the load.<\/p>\n

The minimum expectation for the Mets this season is a playoff appearance. It\u2019s a different culture and a change of scenery that might have been necessary for Robert to get back to playing like he once did.<\/p>\n

Still, it all starts with his health.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for me, the more games I play, the more opportunity I have [for] success,\u201d Robert said. \u201cFor me, the ultimate goal is to be able to stay out on the field, and once I\u2019m able to stay out on the field, I think things are going to turn out the way I want.\u201d<\/p>\n

EXTRA BAGS<\/p>\n

Brett Baty is also on a slower progression this spring after tweaking his right hamstring while training near his home in Texas. The issue was minor and he\u2019s a full participant in camp, but with Baty set to take on two new positions this season, the Mets don\u2019t want to risk aggravation. Currently, he\u2019s only working out at first base, and will then add in work at second base and third base before getting left field reps. \u2026 First baseman Jorge Polanco and catcher Francisco Alvarez are on a similar progressions. The Mets are exercising caution with Polanco\u2019s surgically-repaired left knee, and with the hand injuries Alvarez suffered last season. \u2026 Left-hander Brandon Waddell will start Saturday\u2019s Grapefruit League opener against the Miami Marlins. A starter\/reliever who split time between Triple-A and the major leagues last season, Waddell is once again expected to provide pitching depth for the Mets in a similar role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 When Luis Robert Jr. was traded to the Mets in a late night deal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,8636,49,999,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,2062,151,4164],"class_list":["post-578070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-mets","tag-baseball","tag-center-field","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-luis-robert-jr","tag-mets","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-mets","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkmets","tag-outfielder","tag-spring-training","tag-trade"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116087850641012702","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}