Mets' Luis Robert Jr. starts spring training in holding pattern
Mets outfielder Luis Robert Jr. hit .224 in 2024 and .223 last season but sparked to life in the second half, hitting .298 in the final 31 games before a Grade 2 hamstring strain ended his season. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — There’s a little verbal asterisk next to Luis Robert Jr.’s name. He’s an elite defender, a strong baserunner and can hit for power to all fields.*
* . . . when he’s healthy.
That’s the risk the Mets took when they acquired the 28-year-old centerfielder from the White Sox this offseason, but it wasn’t without a plan in place. Robert, who missed the final two months of last season with a hamstring injury, and whose career injury report is longer than a CVS receipt, is this team’s everyday centerfielder, manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Just not in spring training.
Or at least not yet.
“We’ve got to keep him healthy and we want to be proactive,” Mendoza said Tuesday. “He won’t be playing in games out of the gate. This is something that, when we traded for him, our trainers put their hands on it and identified some of the things, especially in the lower half, that needed to be strengthened up. He’s going through full workouts. He’s going to be getting live at-bats . . . It’s going to be a progression . . .
“As far as the ceiling and the potential for the player, he’s got a chance to do something special . . . It’s just the game speed. We want to make sure he’s in a good place before we put him out there.”
Robert, who’s battled injuries to his hamstring, knee, hip and groin, was an All-Star in 2023, slashing .264/.315/.542 before a parade of injuries led to inconsistent playing time and offensive malaise. He hit .224 in 2024 and .223 last season but sparked to life in the second half, hitting .298 in the final 31 games before a Grade 2 hamstring strain ended his season.
“I just started to simplify the game,” he said of that second half. “I just tried to put the ball in play, look to hit more for contact and I think that made me more selective at the plate and that’s why I was able to have the success that I had.”
And then, of course, came the injury.
It’s a frustrating pattern, but one the Mets hope to mitigate, even as Robert has entered camp “100% healthy,” Mendoza said. The team is taking similar precautions with Francisco Alvarez, who was routinely beat up behind the plate last season, Jorge Polanco, who underwent knee surgery in October 2024, and Brett Baty, who felt a twinge in his right hamstring while sprinting two weeks ago.
The same philosophy extends to the regular season. While it’s nice to have players who can suit up for all 162, you have to ask, “How good of a player are you going (to have) for 162?” Mendoza said. “Or would we rather play you 150 or 155 and get the best version of yourself? . . . We’ll adjust when we need to and we’ll get the best out of them.”
Robert’s defense hasn’t really been a question — he has elite range and an above-average arm — but two down offensive years do give pause. While he doesn’t directly blame the injuries for the downturn, he does feel it's correlated to playing time.
“The more games I play, the more opportunity I have to have success,” he said via interpreter. “The ultimate goal is to be able to stay out on the field and once I’m able to stay out on the field, I think things are going to turn out the way that I want . . .
“The health, that’s the No. 1 thing, but aside from that it’s just stay as consistent as possible.”
Robert said he was on board with the organization’s plan to strengthen his lower body before attempting significant game action, and expressed excitement at acclimating to his new home.
“When you come to a team like this, the expectations are to win,” he said. “Obviously being on a team like this, I’m sure the stadium is going to be packed as opposed to the last couple years in Chicago (where) it wasn’t like that . . . I was excited (when I heard about the trade). I was nervous. Sometimes you hear a lot about New York and about how big it can be and to play with as many stars as I was going to play with. I can’t really explain the proper emotions that I had.”
Notes & quotes: Brandon Waddell will get the start against the Marlins in the Mets Grapefruit League opener Saturday . . . The Mets will break ground on their new player development complex at Clover Park on Wednesday. The 55,000-square-foot facility will combine training, recovery and team spaces into a single complex.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
