Luis Robert Jr. returns to Chicago with Mets, calls time with White Sox 'a beautiful journey'

CHICAGO (AP) — Luis Robert Jr. looks back at his time with the Chicago White Sox as “a beautiful journey.”

Robert faced his first big league team for the first time when he returned to Chicago with the New York Mets on Friday. He made his second career start in left field and hit sixth in the order for the opener of a weekend series.

There was a mixture of cheers and boos when Robert was announced with the lineup before the game. The White Sox showed Robert on their main scoreboard before the second inning and welcomed him back to his longtime home, and Robert took his hat off before waving to the cheering crowd.

He was booed when he came to the plate in the second, but there were more cheers when he struck out swinging on three pitches.

The 29-year-old Robert played for the White Sox for six seasons before he was traded to the Mets in January for infielder Luisangel Acuña and minor league pitcher Truman Pauley. Robert helped the White Sox make the playoffs in 2020 and 2021, but his final years with the team were marked by injuries and inconsistency.

“It was a time where there were a lot of highs and lows, both personally as a player, but also for the team,” Robert said through a translator. “When I first got here, the team played really well. But those last few years, we didn’t get the job in the way that we wanted to. But at the same time, I can look back at it as a beautiful journey, as a beautiful experience for me.”

The matchup with the White Sox was Robert's 50th game in his first season with the Mets. He was on the injured list with a lumbar spine disc herniation from April 27 to July 20.

He was batting .215 with seven homers and 19 RBIs coming into the game. He connected for a 451-foot solo drive on July 21 at Milwaukee.

“I think this season has been pretty similar to how other parts of my career have gone, where I’ve been hurt, where I've been off the field,” Robert said, “but I think right now the most important thing for me is to finish the season strong.”

Robert made his major league debut with Chicago in 2020, winning a Gold Glove and finishing second to Kyle Lewis in balloting for AL Rookie of the Year. He made the AL All-Star team in 2023, when he hit .264 with 38 homers, 80 RBIs and 20 steals in 145 games.

But Robert hasn't been able to build on the promise he showed at the beginning of his career. He had a career-best 33 steals in 110 games in his final year with Chicago, but he hit just .223 with 14 homers and 53 RBIs.

“He’s kind of been built back from kind of having some injuries earlier in the season,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said. “Hasn’t been out there every single day because of that. Out of nowhere, it’s 110 mile an hour (opposite-field) home run. It’s insane power. It’s a great athlete.”

The White Sox lost 324 games over Robert's final three seasons with the team. But they are in position to make the playoffs this year, leading the AL Central by 3 1/2 games over Minnesota going into Friday's action. The Mets were last in the NL East after beginning the season with World Series aspirations.

Robert said he still keeps track of how the White Sox are doing, and he isn't surprised by their results so far this year.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” he said. “Before I got traded in the offseason, I saw the moves that they were making and the necessary moves to improve the team and that’s what they were doing.”

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