GLENDALE, Ariz. — White Sox outfield prospect Luis Robert jammed his left thumb making a head first slide during an intrasquad game Saturday. Manager Rick Renteria called it minor and said Robert is expected back Thursday.
It’s the same thumb Robert injured more seriously last spring, making a feet-first slide at second base.
Robert ran on his own, “a lapse on his judgement,” Renteria said.
“Fortunately for us, it was jammed a little and he’s doing good. We’re just going to be a little cautious.”
Robert will swing in the batting cages on Wednesday’s off day and be back “promptly,” Renteria said.
Training staff has equipped Robert with an insert to protect the thumb when he’s fielding. And Renteria said Robert has been talked to about not sliding head first.
In his most recent Cactus League game Friday against the Rangers in Surprise, Robert tripled off the wall in center field and hit a go-ahead home run to left.
Robert, the White Sox’ No. 4 prospect per Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, has been slowed by injuries since the Sox signed him to a $26 million bonus in 2017.
A sprained ligament in his left thumb limited Robert to 50 games in 2018 between the Arizona League and both levels of Class A. He opened the 2018 season on the disabled list with a sprained ligament in his left thumb, appeared in 13 games when he came off and reinjured the thumb July 3.
Because of missed time, Robert played in the Arizona Fall League in November, where he batted .324 with two homers and two doubles, 10 RBI and 19 runs scored. But Robert was limited there, too, by a tight hamstring.
Robert was plagued by knee (left meniscus) and ankle problems in 2017.
Robert joins right-hander Dane Dunning (forearm soreness) and outfielder Luis Basebe (broken hamate bone) among top Sox prospects stalled by injuries this spring.
