Grifol: Robert never told him about hamstring issue

CHICAGO – Luis Robert Jr. was not in the White Sox starting lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Rays at Guaranteed Rate Field. But the absence had nothing to do with his being removed in the second inning for pinch-hitter Oscar Colás from Saturday’s 12-3 loss due to a manager’s decision.

Well, it did have to do with that issue, if the postgame explanation from Robert is followed.

On Saturday, Robert ran slowly to first base on his first-pitch grounder to the right of the pitcher in the bottom of the first. Robert appeared to grimace about halfway down the line, and he told reporters after Chicago’s 10th straight loss that he had right hamstring tightness, brought about by a great deal of hustle and running in Friday’s setback.

But only teammates Eloy Jiménez and Elvis Andrus knew about the malady, according to Robert. Manager Pedro Grifol wasn’t told at the time, and he said he didn’t know about Robert’s comments when asked pregame Sunday, although he had talked to Robert.

“He was pulled out of the game for not hustling down the line and the expectations that we have here as a ballclub. He’s not playing today because he was a little tight yesterday, apparently,” Grifol said. “We are going to err on the side of caution.

“I think it’s human nature for them to want to be a part of us getting back on track. And I think he felt like he could play and help us. The problem is there was no communication, and if there’s communication, then we make a decision whether his effort is sufficient enough with our expectations. If it is, we are able to talk about it after the game. If it’s not, then you won’t play. It’s pretty simple.”

Another consideration is whether a player such as Robert can get hurt for a longer period by keeping himself in the lineup.

“The reason is because of what I just said. He wanted to stay in the lineup. He wanted to help us win a ballgame,” Grifol said. “So that part doesn’t really frustrate me. When I don’t see effort, that frustrates me.

“We have expectations, and one of them is we play hard. That’s it. That’s what we are about. If we are not going to play hard, then we’ll make changes. I said yesterday in my postgame that it’s uncharacteristic for him to do something like that. So it doesn’t surprise me that there was something else. However, I didn’t know about it.”

Grifol described Robert as one of the hardest workers the White Sox have, if not the hardest. Sunday’s absence was to get him right, a change the White Sox also would like to see with his offense, as Robert is mired in a 5-for-55 slump over his past 15 games.

“For the last two weeks or so, his pitch selection is not good,” White Sox hitting coach José Castro said. “He’s trying to work on trying to be a bit more patient, but at the same time -- it’s a combination. It’s that controlled violence type thing. I think he’s going to be fine.”

“The only thing I could think about at the time was maybe he got a little frustrated,” Grifol said. “He mis-hit that ball or something, and he didn’t run out, which is not acceptable as well. What happened yesterday, happened yesterday. We have spoken about it, and that’s over for me, especially when the history has it that he works really really hard.”