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Sports

Luis Robert gets a rest in the City Series opener, but the White Sox CF is responding well after returning from a groin strain

Luis Robert raced to first base, looking to extend Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels after hitting a grounder to shortstop Andrew Velazquez.The Chicago White Sox center fielder was called out on a bang-bang play.Advertisement“I was pretty confident that I was safe,” Robert said through an interpreter Sunday.A video review confirmed Robert’s thoughts. The call was reversed, momentarily keeping alive a Sox rally.AdvertisementThe Sox couldn’t complete the comeback, but Robert’s display of speed was a good sign as he makes his way back from a groin strain.“Feeling good,” Robert said in English.Robert suffered the injury April 21 in Cleveland while running out a groundout.“Thank God it wasn’t anything serious,” he said. “It was more like a soreness and I was able to get a lot of treatment and I was able to come back in just six days. That was very good.”[ [Don’t miss] Column: It’s hard to get too excited for the return of the City Series during a gloomy Chicago spring ]The Sox elected not to place Robert on the injured list, and he returned Friday. Robert remained confident he wouldn’t have an extended absence after being limited to 68 games last season because of a hip flexor strain suffered running to first against Cleveland at Guaranteed Rate Field.“Last year was different,” he said. “I was able to walk (on April 21) and it wasn’t the same pain that I had last year. I was not really concerned about it.”Robert went 3 for 4 with a run in Monday’s 3-0 victory against the Angels.“I’m excited just to see him in the lineup,” Sox first baseman José Abreu said through an interpreter last week. “He’s not my son, but I treat him like one of mine.Advertisement“If he has the right mindset, he knows what he needs to do in order to stay healthy for a long season, then good. I think he’s going to be able to do that, and if he’s in the lineup, we’re better because he’s there.”Robert was slashing .246/.258/.426 with three home runs and six RBIs in 15 games entering Tuesday’s City Series opener against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.“He’s one of the main catalysts of our offense,” Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito said last week. “He’s unreal in center field. So it’s good to have him back. We’ve dealt with a lot of injuries and things like that over the course of the year, so having such an important player like Luis, it feels good.”The Sox gave Robert a chance to rest Tuesday, as he was not in the starting lineup.“We debated it a lot. He’s starting to swing good,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said before Tuesday’s game.Robert is 6 for 17 (.353) with a three-run home run in four games since returning from the injury. Some of his outs have been loud, such as a fifth-inning lineout to center Friday against the Angels that had an exit velocity of 114.8 mph.Advertisement“I feel pretty good right now,” he said of his approach at the plate. “Unfortunately, I’m hitting the ball where there is somebody to catch the ball. But, hey, I’m going to keep trying and I’m going to try to figure out a way to get the hits.”[ [Don’t miss] What went wrong for the White Sox in April? Breaking down a tough first month to the 2022 season. ]The hits fell Monday. La Russa said Robert has looked “outstanding” since returning.“He’s one of the guys that keys everything we do defensively and offensively,” La Russa said. “But it’s a long season and he’ll play (Wednesday) night.”Robert is tied for third in the American League with five stolen bases. He hasn’t attempted to steal since returning but feels like he’s ready to take off.“I think I can do all the stuff that I usually do on the field, but I know the team is a little bit concerned,” Robert said. “They want to control a little bit my running game, then right now I’m a red light.”Robert is confident the Sox offense as a whole will get going, pointing to Sunday’s five-run rally in the ninth in a 6-5 loss as a positive sign.Advertisement“That’s the team that we are,” he said. “I think that’s the team that from now on everybody is going to see day in and day out.”

Sports

Jairo Torres ticks the boxes for the Chicago Fire on and off the pitch. And at 21, he’s ready for a big role.

In the last few days, Jairo Torres has immigrated to a new country, met his new teammates and participated in his first Chicago Fire training session, sandwiched by a joyous sendoff in Mexico and a hero’s welcome in Pilsen.Torres scored Saturday in his final game with Atlas FC in Liga MX, receiving thunderous applause in an emotional moment for the 21-year-old who came up through Atlas’ academy and helped Los Rojinegros win the 2021 Apertura title.Advertisement[embedded content]On Sunday night he flew from his native Guadalajara to O’Hare to embark on the next stint of his career with the Fire, who formally introduced the designated player Tuesday during a news conference in the Loop.“A player like Jairo, he’s someone that can make a coach’s life a lot easier,” coach Ezra Hendrickson said. “Take away some of your sleepless nights. He’s just a very good player. Great player with good technical ability, especially in 1-v-1 situations, something that we need on this team.”AdvertisementTorres trained with the Fire for the first time Tuesday morning at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, then came downtown for his introductory news conference. Afterward he was off to Vault Gallerie for a meet-and-greet with fans in the Lower West Side, a Chicago arrival that came more than two months after the Fire acquired the winger.He joins the Fire at the right time: After a 2-0-2 start to the season, they are winless in their last five Major League Soccer matches.Naturally, Torres’ move comes with heightened expectations on the Fire, with whom he will be tested to be a match-winner and a leader — a role Torres said he’s eager to shoulder.“I think that I matured a lot at Atlas,” he said through an interpreter. “The team that I was on really helped me to grow and to mature into a better player. In reality, I knew that coming in there were a lot of expectations on me, but I’m going to try to take on that role to be a leader, always, on and off the field.“I mean, there’s a reason that I came here. So I’m going to give everything that I have to be a role model on and off the field and be completely concentrated to do my best here.”Hendrickson said he expects Torres to get some playing time Saturday at Atlanta United, and he thinks the Mexican’s addition will help correct a Fire attack that has scored only six goals in nine matches.Fire technical director Sebastian Pelzer said the team scouted Torres for about a month, paying special attention to his work off the ball in addition to his offensive ability.“When I saw him live it was even better than on the screen,” Pelzer said of Torres’ ability. “I was very impressed with his skills offensively. And also the commitment that he has for his team, working hard defensively as well.Advertisement“Look, we’re ambitious. We want to be successful, and to have a player with a full commitment for the team effort, that is what you need. Jairo stood out with many things, and that was one of them.”Jairo Torres, top, is carried by his Atlas FC teammates after a Liga MX match against Tigres at the Jalisco stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico, on April 30, 2022. (ULISES RUIZ / AFP via Getty Images)On paper, Torres ticks all the boxes for the Fire from a soccer standpoint. He’s a young, dynamic winger who shows plenty of potential.It doesn’t hurt, either, to sign a player who can connect with Chicago’s Mexican community.“We know the importance of Mexican players in Chicago,” Pelzer said. “We’d like to serve this community as well. … It’s not just looking for different countries. It’s also finding a good combination of how we can contribute to the community of Chicago.”But everyone is realistic, too, and realizes that the better Torres plays for the Fire, the more likely he is to attract interest from European clubs.That could mean another whirlwind in a few years.Advertisement“This league is a league that’s been growing for many, many years,” Torres said. “It’s really exciting to be able to come here because a lot of players that have been coming here, with the growth of the league, have also moved on to play in Europe. And at the end of the day, that’s everyone’s dream, right? To be able to go to Europe.”Torres won’t be the only new addition to the Fire before the MLS primary transfer window shuts Wednesday. A source confirmed an Athletic report that stated the Fire have a verbal agreement to sign Mueller, a Schaumburg native who most recently played for Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership.Mueller, 25, was the 2017 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year at Wisconsin and played youth soccer with Sockers FC Chicago in the northwest suburbs.Pelzer declined to go into specifics Tuesday but hinted Mueller, a finalist for the 2018 MLS Rookie of the Year award with Orlando City, should be signed in time.Torres and Mueller should give the Fire plenty of attacking options in support of Xherdan Shaqiri and Kacper Przybyłko.