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Luis Robert probably won’t be asked to eat bugs, lie in a coffin full of rats, or ride a motorbike on a skyscraper.
But he’ll be playing his own version of “Fear Factor” when he tests himself in gaming action Wednesday for the first time since tearing his hip flexor in early May.
RELATED: Luis Robert Is Allowed To Begin Rehab Mission
“I’ve been feeling pretty good over the past two weeks,” Robert, who was heading for a rehab mission with Class A Winston-Salem later this week, said on Monday, said through the interpreter of the Billy Russo team. “At first I was a little worried or scared because I didn’t know if I was going to be at full speed. But then I started to feel more comfortable, more secure on the leg, and right now I’m feeling pretty good.
“I think the last test will be when I start a real game. That’s when I’ll see if the fear is there or not. Right now I’m just waiting for this Wednesday game and I see what’s going on and how it’s going. Once I play there I can tell you how bad the fear factor is. “
The Chicago White Sox, of course, hope he will fare better than the people who spat cockroach bits in front of Joe Rogan.
Robert, as he always has been, plays an important role in the White Sox championship plans. But where before he was an undisputed centerpiece, he will now play the role of a mid-season spark plug. With Eloy Jiménez – who is currently in rehab at Triple-A Charlotte, battling a ruptured pectoral tendon – Robert could provide the kind of jerk few suitors experience, even via an outside addition, in the second half of a race flag.
This will only be possible, however, if he is able to trust his leg.
Speed is one of those five – or six, depending on which Hall of Fame you ask – tools that make Robert such a unique talent and such a valued member of the White Sox as they pursue the glory of October. He’s already elated fans and helped White Sox wins by slamming flying balls into center field and moving from base to base.
The White Sox are certainly hoping he can keep doing that sort of thing once he returns. They will need it.
The White Sox and Robert are about to find out if he can.
“In the past, with my thumb or my wrist, (the injury) was nothing serious. But with this one, I was really worried,” said Robert. “First, I went a month without walking. Then I started taking small steps. Then when I started running, I was scared because I couldn’t run 100%. And I was afraid of, ‘Dude, I’m going to lose one of my best tools.’
“I was worried at the time. But then my body started to respond well and I started to feel a lot better.”
Rehabilitation missions are generally good news, lights at the end of tunnels caused by injuries. And Monday’s news on Robert was overwhelmingly positive in light of what the alternative could have been: the White Sox attempting to win without one of their most talented players.
This one, however, will come with extra attention as Robert tests the leg that took two and a half months of his second season in the major leagues and increased the tilt of the White Sox’s quest for a championship.
Jiménez is swinging well in his first game action since getting injured. Now is the time to see if Robert is going to run well in his. What if he can trust himself enough to let it rip.
The White Sox title hopes could very well depend on it.
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