White Sox's Luis Robert Jr. Placed on 10-Day IL After Suffering Hip Flexor Injury

The Chicago White Sox announced Saturday that star outfielder Luis Robert Jr. has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right hip flexor strain.

Infielder Lenyn Sosa has been recalled from from Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Robert suffered the injury during Friday's 2-1 loss against the Kansas City Royals while rounding first base after a ninth-inning double. He limped his way into second base and was removed from the game.

Robert suffered the same injury in 2021, playing just 68 games for the White Sox that season. He told reporters after the game that he doesn't believe this injury will keep him sidelined as long as the previous iteration:

Regardless of the time table, he'll be a major loss for a White Sox team that has started just 1-6 on the season and already saw Eloy Jiménez placed on the 10-day injured list with a left adductor strain and reliever John Brebbia leave Friday's game with a right calf strain.

"He's hard to replace," manager Pedro Grifol told reporters regarding Robert. "You don't replace a guy like him, but at the same time, next man up. We have to go out and continue to fight and do the things we need to do."

The 26-year-old had a career year in 2023, hitting .264 with a .864 OPS and career-high marks in homers (38), RBI (80), stolen bases (20) and runs (90).

"You never want to see someone go down, on whatever side of the ball," White Sox second baseman Nicky Lopez told reporters. "And for one of the best players in baseball, you see that, it gets you down. That guy is so exciting to watch. You just hate to see it. We'll pray for the best. And we'll keep moving forward."

There's no replacing a five-tool player like Robert but the White Sox have options, with Dominic Fletcher and Kevin Pillar capable of handling duties in center field.