Luis Robert Jr. is off to a rousing start with the Mets after arriving in an offseason trade

NEW YORK (AP) — Luis Robert Jr. is making quite a first impression at Citi Field.

On a Mets team loaded with newcomers, the All-Star center fielder from Cuba is off to the fastest start among them.

Robert launched a three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning Saturday, rallying New York to a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Acquired from the Chicago White Sox in a January trade, the 28-year-old Robert also had two RBI singles Thursday and made a nice play on defense to help the Mets win their season opener.

“These last two games have really been special,” Robert said through a translator.

With the Mets trailing 2-1 in the 11th, cleanup batter Jorge Polanco drew a leadoff walk — his fifth free pass in two games with the club. With automatic runner Bo Bichette also aboard at second, Robert reached down and drove a 1-0 slider from rookie left-hander Hunter Barco over the left-center fence on a windy, 42-degree day.

“I was looking for a fastball there. I was trying to make good contact just to at least tie the game, and it turned out to be a home run,” Robert said. “I knew that I hit it well. I just didn’t know if it was gone just because it’s a new stadium, it being cold, and I couldn’t get like the proper feeling from it. But I knew that I had hit the ball hard.”

His first home run for the Mets was the second walk-off shot of his career. The other one came during his rookie season with the White Sox against Kansas City on Aug. 30, 2020.

“He's talented. He's gifted. Even that last one there, I thought the pitcher executed down and away and he goes and gets it,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.

“With the conditions today, with the way the wind was blowing, especially from left field, to just be able to leave the yard like that in that situation, it goes to show you that this guy’s special.”

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Robert has always been dripping with power, speed and eye-catching raw talent. But injuries have hampered him and he only really put everything together for a full season in 2023, when he had 38 homers, 80 RBIs, 20 steals and an .857 OPS in 145 games for the White Sox.

He was selected to the All-Star Game and won a Silver Slugger award to go with his 2020 Gold Glove and runner-up finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting that year.

Largely because of his tendency to chase pitches out of the strike zone, Robert entered Saturday with a career on-base percentage of just .313. But he worked a 10-pitch walk in his first Mets plate appearance Thursday against reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, and drew another free pass Saturday.

“We’ve been working on that a lot," Robert said. "I think the one thing that great players have is knowing how to select the proper pitches to swing at. I think for me to be able to go back to being the player that I was and that I know that I’m capable of being, I think that’s going to be a big part of my game.”

Needless to say, the Mets see great signs in the early returns from their new center fielder.

“Pretty encouraging,” Mendoza said. “And even the one before that at-bat, he took some breaking balls there to get ahead in counts. Put himself in position to get good pitches to hit and he continues to do that.”

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New York Mets' Luis Robert Jr. looks out from the dugout during a spring training baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Jupiter, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

New York Mets' Luis Robert Jr., right, hits a three-run home run during the 11th inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Mets' Luis Robert Jr. (88) celebrates with teammates after hitting a three run home run during the eleventh inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Mets center fielder Luis Robert Jr. (88) celebrates with teammates after hitting a three run home run during the eleventh inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Aaron Judge believes the New York Yankees went a little bit overboard in their preparation for baseball's new Automated Ball-Strike System.

Manager Aaron Boone acknowledges he's a little “anal” about it all.

“We had too many meetings about it in my opinion,” said Judge, the two-time reigning AL MVP who grounded out in this first at-bat Saturday before later connecting for his second home run in two games as New York won 3-1 to complete a series sweep.

Seven challenges of calls by plate umpire Chad Whitson all were overturned — four by San Francisco, three by New York.

Yet Judge's timely, spot-on challenge during the sixth inning of a 3-0 victory Friday night against San Francisco certainly paid off. He homered for the first time this season five pitches later with a two-run, 405-foot drive to left field after an 0-for-7 start to 2026 that included going 0 for 5 with four strikeouts Wednesday — the first hitless opening day of his career.

Paul Goldschmidt scored on the play after a double to start the rally.

Judge challenged what originally had been ruled strike two by plate umpire Chad Fairchild on an 86.1 mph slider from Robbie Ray in the sixth inning and had it overturned to a ball by the so-called robot umpire.

“I thought the call was going to stand, so it was a close one there,” Judge said. “You get in a better count, but I still have a job to do, especially with Goldy out there on second base to drive him in.”

New York was 2 for 3 in challenge opportunities through the first two games of the series, while the Giants were 1 for 2. Then a ball by San Francisco starter Tyler Mahle to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the second was challenged by Giants catcher Patrick Bailey, and the call was overturned to a called third strike — though the scoreboard announced it as a challenge by Chisholm, showing there are still kinks being worked out.

“I was kind of obsessive over it, so I wanted to talk about it a lot,” Boone said Saturday. “I was going up to individuals almost routinely after every one, ‘Hey, I really liked that one,' why, ‘I hated that one,’ why. At the end of spring, I pulled up probably eight to 10 examples not only our games but some other games and talked through them, just trying to get our guys to inherently understand instinctively, in-the-moment situations and also whenever we can, which is easier said than done, is stripping the emotion out of it, which is going to happen at some point.”

New York's José Caballero lost the first challenge of the major league season during a season-opening 7-0 win over the Giants on Wednesday.

Boone believes the new system will be an asset for the Yankees, who had the second-lowest chase rate— or swings on pitches out of the zone — last year at 25.6% and just a fraction more than the Brewers, according to Sportradar.

“That's my expectation,” he said. “We've poured a lot into it. I feel like our team makeup should lend itself to this being a good thing for us and an advantage for us, but that's not a given, either. We've got to continue to evolve with it and learn from it and hopefully it is something that is a strength.”

For Judge, this is an adjustment. He plans to pick his moments to tap his helmet and signal the 12 Hawk-Eye cameras to make the call.

“Weird,” he said, “it's part of the game, but you've got to get used to it. I'm a hitter, I've got to focus on hitting. I'm not going try to sit here and challenge every single one I think is close, but if there's a big spot where I think I've got a chance to flip the count I'm going to do it. I've still got to go up there and do my job as a hitter.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, right, is congratulated by Cody Bellinger (35) after hitting a two-run home run that also scored Paul Goldschmidt, left, during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

New York Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton, left, is congratulated by Aaron Judge after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, left, celebrates with Ben Rice after a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone blows a bubble as he watches players take batting practice before a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge jogs on the field while warming up before a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)