Luis Robert increasing baseball activities, nearing rehab assignment

Slowly but surely, outfielder Luis Robert is getting closer to returning to the White Sox.

The team announced Wednesday that Robert, who has been out since sustaining a Grade 3 hip flexor strain back on May 2, has been clearly to increase his level of baseball activities at Chicago’s alternate site. The White Sox added that after about four weeks of further rehabilitation, Robert could be cleared to begin a rehab assignment.

Robert remains without a set timetable to return to the White Sox lineup, something that appears to be about two months away. But at least it’s becoming clearer that Robert will play again this season. That was far from certain in the days following his serious injury.

The 23-year-old Robert was off to a nice start prior to his unfortunate trip down the first-base line against the Indians. He was batting .316 with a .359 on-base percentage across 25 games. Yes, he was still striking out a lot — 28 in 95 at-bats — and had hit only one home run, but everyone knows that Robert has the raw skills to be a impactful power-speed threat. He had 11 homers and nine steals in 202 ABs last season as a rookie. It’s those skills that made him so intriguing as an early-round fantasy pick this spring.

Following this announcement, it looks like Robert’s fantasy owners will be able to get some more value from him later this year.