{"id":578913,"date":"2026-02-18T08:09:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/578913\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T08:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:09:07","slug":"mets-manager-carlos-mendoza-updates-on-luis-robert-jr-s-injury-status-for-spring-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/578913\/","title":{"rendered":"Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza Updates on Luis Robert Jr.’s Injury Status for Spring Training"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Mets<\/a> have a new\u2011look roster heading into the upcoming MLB<\/a> season, and one of the most intriguing pieces is outfielder Luis Robert Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n

The 28\u2011year\u2011old was acquired earlier in the offseason in a trade with the Chicago White Sox<\/a>, a deal that had been discussed since last year\u2019s trade deadline before finally coming together.<\/p>\n

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Robert brings significant upside to the Mets as a former All\u2011Star, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Award winner.<\/p>\n

However, injuries have slowed him over the past two seasons, causing him to miss more than 100 games while dealing with a left hamstring strain, adductor soreness and recurring lower\u2011body issues that limited his availability.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. (88)\u00a9 Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

(\u00a9 Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Even when healthy, he has only shown flashes of the dynamic player he once was, but given his age and talent, the Mets viewed him as a calculated risk.<\/p>\n

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Unfortunately, that risk is already being tested. Spring training has barely begun, and Robert is dealing with another lower\u2011body setback.<\/p>\n

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza shared Tuesday that the team is \u201cslow-playing\u201d Robert and that he will not appear in spring training games immediately, according to Chelsea Janes of SportsNet New York.<\/p>\n

Mendoza explained that team trainers identified multiple areas of weakness in Robert\u2019s lower half that need to be strengthened before he ramps up.<\/p>\n

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While it is encouraging that the Mets caught these issues early, it is still concerning that the injury that ended his 2025 season remains a factor months later.<\/p>\n

Even so, the expectation remains that Robert will be ready by Opening Day. The Mets are hoping he can resemble the version of himself that appeared late last season.<\/p>\n

In 31 games during the second half of 2025, Robert posted a .298 batting average, .352 on\u2011base percentage, .808 OPS, five home runs and 18 RBIs. It was a small sample, but it was the most encouraging stretch he had shown in more than a year.<\/p>\n

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If the Mets can keep him healthy, Robert has the talent to be a difference\u2011maker in their lineup. For a team pushing to return to the postseason, unlocking his full potential could be one of the keys to their 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Related: Mets’ Francisco Lindor Makes Off-Field Announcement Ahead of MLB Season<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Feb 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the MLB<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Mets have a new\u2011look roster heading into the upcoming MLB season, and one of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[5,1443,70043,138,49,2561,999,4,61,64587,396,2562],"class_list":{"0":"post-578913","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-white-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-carlos-mendoza","10":"tag-chelsea-janes","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-white-sox","13":"tag-chicagowhitesox","14":"tag-luis-robert-jr","15":"tag-mlb","16":"tag-new-york-mets","17":"tag-spring-training-games","18":"tag-white-sox","19":"tag-whitesox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116090619387989849","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578913","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=578913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}