White Sox hoping to have Luis Robert Jr. at game speed by weekend

Lindsey Wasson/AP

Center fielder Luis Robert Jr. is expected to play games at the White Sox’ complex in Glendale, Arizona, at the end of the week as he inches closer to a return from a strained hip flexor that sidelined him after only seven games this season.

Robert’s next step after those games will be a minor-league rehab assignment, likely at Triple-A Charlotte.

First, however, Robert must pass the running test to show the Sox he’s ready for game speed.

‘‘We’re going to try to push him upwards to 90% here shortly and hopefully get him into some games in Arizona later in the week and see how he responds,’’ manager Pedro Grifol said before the Sox’ scheduled game Monday against the Nationals was rained out. ‘‘But the first test is going to be getting him going to the speed of the game a little bit before we put him in the game. So the next three or four days [are] going to be critical for what happens at the end of the week.’’

Robert had been on track to be playing rehab games by now, but he felt ‘‘a little grab’’ in the hip flexor in the first week of May, which set back his progress.

Grifol said Robert is pushing to get back and isn’t hesitant, even though he also suffered a torn hip flexor that caused him to miss three months in 2021.

‘‘Not at all,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘We feel comfortable. But, again, we have the right people over there. We have our strength-and-conditioning [staff], our sports-science people, everybody there monitoring all that stuff. We’re in a good spot.’’

Grifol said third baseman Yoan Moncada, who is on the mend from a strained adductor, isn’t as far along but also is making progress toward a return.

Moncada, who also is at the Arizona complex, spent last week batting right-handed and started hitting from the left side Monday.

‘‘I’ve seen videos of him catching some ground balls and doing some drills,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘He’s coming along. He’s a little further behind Robert, but he’s also coming along good.’’

Danny Mendick heads for Charlotte

Infielder Danny Mendick, whose stint on the injured list for tightness in his lower back opened a door for Bryan Ramos’ intriguing debut, was heading to Charlotte for a brief rehab assignment.

‘‘Come back up and just bounce around and play where they need me,’’ Mendick said. ‘‘That’s why you want to play at the highest level, to play and compete. You should never be handed anything. For me, going back out there and earning a spot is what I’ve always done.’’

Mendick said he likes what Ramos is showing.

‘‘You could tell in spring training that he was talented and had it all,’’ Mendick said. ‘‘For him to come up here and take advantage of opportunities, it’s really awesome. It’s good to see because that’s what you want. That’s what you want to do, and that’s what you want other guys to do.’’

Going to WAR

Here are the Sox’ top 10 players, according to wins above replacement at Baseball-Reference.com:

1. Erick Fedde, 1.7
2. Garrett Crochet, 0.9
3. Chris Flexen, 0.9
4. Jordan Leasure, 0.7
5. Korey Lee, 0.5
6. Michael Kopech, 0.5
7. Paul DeJong, 0.5
8. Jared Shuster, 0.5
9. Yoan Moncada, 0.4
10. Brad Keller, 0.4
11. John Brebbia, 0.3
12. Tommy Pham, 0.2
13. Gavin Sheets, 0.2
14. Zach Remillard 0.2
15. Andrew Benintendi has the lowest WAR at minus-1.4.