LOVERRO: The long, confounding implosion of Victor Robles

OPINION:

This was how many of the phone calls from other baseball general managers probably went for Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo seven, eight years ago:

“Mike, we’re interested in Victor Robles. What do you want for him?”

“He’s not available,” Rizzo would respond.

“But Mike, we’ll give you our best starting pitcher, a couple of our prospects and even throw in a steak dinner.”

“He’s not available,” would again be the response.

But time passes and circumstances change. This week, the Nationals made the 27-year-old Robles very available, designating him for assignment after more than 10 years in the organization and eight years since he made his major league debut in 2017.

Now anyone can have him.

Robles was once so coveted a young player that Baseball America ranked him the fifth-best prospect in all of baseball. To give you some perspective, James Wood, the Nationals outfielder tearing it up at Triple-A Rochester that everyone is salivating over, is currently ranked as the fifth-best prospect in the game by MLB Pipeline.

Everyone wants the Nationals to call up Wood yesterday. 

At one time, they wanted Robles called up. He, not Juan Soto, was the prized player in the Washington system. When he finally made the opening day roster in the World Series year of 2019 after call-ups in 2017 and 2018, the 21-year-old Robles delivered with 17 home runs, 65 RBIs, 28 steals and a .255 average in 155 games. He was a Gold Glove finalist in center field and received consideration for National League Rookie of the Year honors.

With Soto and Robles, the Nationals’ future seemed full of endless possibilities.

Then COVID-19 hit, and, like the Nationals themselves, it all began to fall apart for Robles — injuries, struggles at the plate and inexplicable mistakes on the field that would cost his team games. 

There would be moments where Robles would show the promise that made him such a highly-touted young player — enough for Washington to stay in the Robles business, even willing to pay him $2.65 million this year as part of the Lerners’ barebones budget roster. But those moments were overshadowed by his poor play, particularly the mistakes on the field that, after 500 major league games, were confounding.

“A lot of it, for me, had to do with injuries. It really did,” manager Dave Martinez told reporters after the decision to release Robles. “For me, he’s got to find what his identity is, he really does. Hopefully, he does that. He’s made a lot of changes in his hitting. So hopefully, he finds that spot where he’s comfortable and, for me, he’s a guy that needs to get on base, steal some bases, play good defense. Be that guy that creates havoc. And I hope he finds it.

There is no easy answer for what went wrong. It’s not like Robles was a problem child. He was well-liked. “It was definitely emotional,” Martinez said. “Those are always the toughest days, when you have to lose a player. Especially a guy like Vic, who I’ve known for many, many years and helped us win a World Series. It was tough. It was really tough. All I could tell him is I wish him the best and to keep going.

Just two weeks ago, Robles, coming off the injured list from back problems, went 2 for 4 with an RBI and made several strong defensive plays in Washington’s 5-1 win over the Boston Red Sox. He was feeling so good about himself that he did his post-game MASN interview in English for the first time, according to announcer Dan Kolko.

But the mistakes followed — an error in center field, a base running mistake — and the years-long frustration continued. When the roster numbers forced Washington to make a decision, it was to cut Robles loose.

Nationals fans are waiting for Wood and the group of hot prospects to make it to the major leagues — Dylan Crews, Robert Hassell, Brady House and others. There are great expectations for all of them — like there once were for Victor Robles.

⦁ You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.