Luis Robert has stayed healthy and handled Class A and AA pitching without issue this season. He appears more than ready for his next step: a promotion to AAA Charlotte.
White Sox general manager Rick Hahn confirmed Saturday what Robert hinted earlier on his Instagram, that the Sox’ prized Cuban center field prospect, ranked No. 5 by MLB Pipeline, is headed to Charlotte after the Futures Game Sunday.
“In terms of what that means for his timeline to Chicago, it’s premature to speculate along those lines,” Hahn said. “The two goals for him were to get him through the season healthy and at age 21 to acclimate himself to the AA Southern League and perform well at that level.
“He’s ready for that next challenge.”
In 56 games and 244 plate appearances at Birmingham, Robert is batting .314/.362/.518 with 16 doubles, three triples, 21 stolen bases and 29 RBI. He hit his eighth home run Friday night.
Before being promoted to Birmingham, Robert crushed pitching at advanced Class A Winston-Salem to the tune of a .453/512/.920 hitting line with eight homers and 24 stolen bases over 19 games and 84 plate appearances.
“Speaking to scouts that have covered the Southern League for the last 10 years, some say they haven’t seen a player like this come through there in some time,” Sox director of player development Chris Getz said this week.
While the AA level is typically stacked with top prospects and power arms, AAA pitching might give Robert a better feel for facing more experienced pitchers and more diversified pitch mixes.
“He’s going to be challenged on the edges and around the [strike] zone at AAA,” Hahn said, “and it’s going to require a little more fine-tuning to his offensive approach. But he’s a dangerous hitter both in and outside the zone so we don’t expect him to change anything radically. But more advanced pitchers might challenging him in a different way will be good for him.”
Limited to 50 games between the Arizona League and two levels of Class A because of injuries in 2018, Robert has already played 75 this season, a career high.
“Once he was out there playing, the tools and talent would arise and it would be evident to everybody what this kid is capable of doing,” Hahn said. “That’s been the most positive thing from my standpoint this year, that he’s playing regularly.”
Robert tipped off the promotion early this morning posting “Ultimo turno con los @bhambarons. Gracias por todo pero hay que seguir en busca de objetivo”
Translation: “Last turn with the Birmingham Barons. Thanks for everything but you have to be in search of objective”
