White Sox lose more than a game with Robert hip injury

KANSAS CITY -- The White Sox played a single game on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium but suffered multiple losses.

Manager Pedro Grifol's squad dropped a 2-1 decision to the Royals, knocking their record down to 1-6 overall. That dismal ledger pales in comparison to Luis Robert Jr.'s exit in the ninth inning with a right hip flexor injury.

It's the same area where Robert suffered a setback in 2021 while running out an infield grounder, limiting him to 68 games for the American League Central champs. Friday's injury happened when Robert laced a one-out double to left off reliever Will Smith and began to limp and almost hop immediately after turning the corner at first base.

Robert exited slowly under his power, replaced by pinch-runner Braden Shewmake. Grifol didn't comment on the severity of the injury. The All-Star center fielder will undergo evaluations and examinations on Saturday, but the entire team understands the impact of any absence.

"He's hard to replace," Grifol said. "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."

"You never want to see someone go down, on whatever side of the ball," White Sox second baseman Nicky Lopez said. "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."

Dominic Fletcher and Kevin Pillar can play center field. The White Sox also have Robbie Grossman and Gavin Sheets to play in right and serve as designated hitters. Grossman joined the White Sox before Friday's contest when Eloy Jiménez was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to April 2 with a left adductor strain.

Having these players in place, along with whoever would replace Robert from Triple-A Charlotte, assuming he also went on the IL, is a plus for the White Sox. None of them have the five-tool ability of Robert, with no disrespect meant to anyone on the roster.

This setback dropped the White Sox to 0-5 against the AL Central and 1-4 in one-run games. They feature a 4-for-34 success rate with runners in scoring position and their 13 runs scored mark their lowest total through seven games since 1968 when they began the season with a franchise-worst eight runs in seven games.

Gavin Sheets homered off Royals starter Brady Singer in the second, which stood as the only run off the right-hander and Sheets' eighth straight plate appearance where he reached base. But the team had four hits, as the game ended on Andrew Vaughn's slow-hit double-play grounder with runners on first and second and one out.

"Maybe, it's just one pitch, one clutch hit and we can crack it open and flip it," Lopez said. "Good thing is we have tomorrow. We've just got to keep going. Just got to stay positive."

"We're playing good baseball in that sense, one run games," said White Sox starter Erick Fedde, who struck out four and allowed one-run in five-plus innings. "It comes down to one big hit here or there to maybe finding the guy who is going to step up big for us, get a big hit or maybe make a big play, turn the one run into our favor."

As if Robert and Jiménez aren't significant enough losses, reliever John Brebbia also left in the sixth with a right calf strain, which bothered him during Spring Training. He jumped off the mound to throw out Salvador Perez at the plate on Adam Frazier's slow roller. Grifol was optimistic Brebbia wouldn't be sidelined for long, but there's not much good news to share from Week 1 for the White Sox.

"We have good pitching. We catch the baseball. We do things fundamentally right. We just have to go out there and compete and just see what happens," Grifol said. "The worst thing we can do, and this is not going to happen, is feel sorry for ourselves. We are not going to do that.

"I promise you. That's not going to happen. We are going to go out there and compete our [rears] off and play baseball the right way and see what happens."