PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- To be clear, Luis Robert Jr. is not hurt.
Yet Robert, the Mets’ new center fielder, has been sidelined often in his career -- the casualty of hip, wrist, knee, hip (again), hamstring, hamstring (again) and other injuries over his last five seasons with the White Sox.
For those reasons, when the Mets begin Grapefruit League play on Saturday, Robert won’t be in the lineup. Much as they regularly did with ex-Met Brandon Nimmo during the early days of Spring Training, the Mets intend to hold Robert back until he’s had a chance to strengthen his legs.
“That’s their plan,” Robert said through an interpreter. “I know that that’s the type of process they have, and I trust in them and whatever they have, because they want what’s best for me.”
The only time Robert has managed to play something approximating a full Major League season, back in 2023, he hit 38 homers, stole 20 bases and made the American League All-Star team. He hasn’t approached those heights since, batting just .223/.288/.372 over the past two seasons.
In the 28-year-old Robert’s mind, that’s been entirely because of injuries -- significant issues including a strained right hip flexor that cost him multiple months in 2024 and a left hamstring strain that popped up multiple times last season. If Robert can stay on the field, he expects to be the type of player he was in '23.
“The more games I play, the more opportunity I have to have success,” he said. “So for me, the ultimate goal is to stay out on the field. And then once I’m able to stay out on the field, I think that things are going to turn out the way that I want.”
It’s not just Robert with whom the Mets are taking a cautious approach. The team is also holding back utilityman Brett Baty, who felt a right hamstring twinge about two weeks ago; Baty is already doing most baseball activities, but the Mets don’t intend to use him in the outfield until he’s back to full strength.
In addition, the Mets will proceed carefully with catcher Francisco Alvarez given his own lengthy injury history, as well as new first baseman Jorge Polanco, who underwent left knee surgery 16 months ago. Each of those players will appear in Grapefruit League games, just not right away. The idea is for all of them to reach Opening Day at 100 percent and to stay that way as long as possible.
Central to that line of thinking is Robert, given the variance in his potential outcomes. At his best, Robert can offer the Mets one of the most potent power-speed combinations in the sport. Over the past three seasons, only 38 Major League hitters have produced a season with at least 5.3 bWAR. Robert is one of them.
Unlike in Chicago, however, where he spent the first six years of his career, Robert won’t need to be a focal point in New York. He won’t even bat in the top half of the lineup, with Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Bo Bichette and Polanco expected to occupy the top four spots. To that end, Robert said he feels like he’s “entering a different stage of my career,” with -- for the first time in a long time -- the potential to win at a high level.
“It’s great to be in a lineup with so many talented baseball players,” Robert said. “But at the same time, the goal for me remains the same -- to do my best whether it’s batting in any part of the lineup. At the end of the day, I just have to do my part. I have to do my job.”
For Robert, it starts with staying healthy. From there, “whatever happens, happens.”
“The tools are there -- elite power, the defense, the speed,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “When he’s healthy, we saw it in 2023 a lot of the things that he can do. We’ve got to keep him healthy, and we’re going to be proactive. ... But as far as the ceiling and the potential from the player? Man. He’s got a chance to do something special here.”