GLENDALE, Ariz. – The White Sox’ first full-squad workout is Monday. All 70 players in camp had arrived Sunday, including Luis Robert Jr., appearing to be in a good mood.
“He’s doing great,” manager Will Venable said of the center fielder looking to bounce back from a subpar 2024. “He looks great. He’s in great shape. Great spirits. “So it’s really good to see him and I’m excited to watch him do his thing out on the field.”
The sculpted, 6-3 Robert fits the profile of what Venable calls “a big, athletic team.”
“We’ve got a lot of guys in this organization that just look great,” Venable said. “A lot of positive energy. Guys that seem to be mature beyond their years that are connected also.”
Venable has pushed cohesiveness from the get-go and he’s seeing it already. Robert hugged Andrew Vaughn when he walked into the clubhouse and shook hands with familiar faces.
“They have a head start on that for sure,” Venable said.
Getting to know you
Infielder Josh Rojas, signed to a one-year, $3.5 million contract in free agency after being non-tendered by the Mariners, is like so many others in camp putting names with faces and making new friends.
“It’s hard when you get somewhere new,” said Rojas, on his third team in six seasons. “At first you’re trying to learn everyone’s names and meet everybody. You don’t want to make wrong first impressions. I always try to keep everybody loose, have a good time. But you have to find your way and get to know everyone’s personalities.”
Rojas, 30, enters an environment not far removed from a 121-loss season. A new manager, some new coaches and new players can help clear the stale air.
“That comes from within, though,” he said. “It’s not me coming in saying, ‘Here’s how you do it.’
Rojas said the Sox’ talent might not be as thin as the record suggested.
“This game, sometimes you get a lot of bad luck,” he said. “There are a lot of young guys, guys who have that taste in their mouths of losing a lot of games. It can just be a matter of figuring out how to win close games.
“I was on a Diamondbacks team that lost [110] games in 2020, came back the next year with a good season [74-88] and the year after that it’s a World Series.”
A .247/.323/.362 hitter in six seasons, Rojas retreated to .225/.323/.362 with eight homers for the Mariners in 145 games last season.
“Got caught up in power numbers, seeing everybody’s going up and you try to hit too many balls over the fence,” Rojas said. “So I’m trying to get back to being a line-drive hitter, get on base, draw walks and be pesky on the bases. Get back to my game.”
Schultz and Smith
The Sox’ prized first-round lefty pitching prospects threw live batting practice, which was Sunday’s featured event on the backfield.
Schultz’ slider looked particularly sharp. Smith, a fastball-slider pitcher at Arkansas, mixed in some curveballs.
“So if people are hunting slider I can throw something slower and get them off-balanced a little bit,” Smith said.
“I was really excited about everybody; it was a good day,” Venable said. “Saw [right-handers] Penn Murfee, Jordan Leasure, these guys were filling up the zone. And of course Hagen and Noah looked great as well.”