KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Luis Robert is only 21, and he has played in 129 games in the minor leagues – including 32 at his highest level, Class AA Birmingham.
Eloy Jimenez, 22, to compare the White Sox’ top two position player prospects, had 408 minor league games played before breaking into the majors on Opening Day. But there are more than a few baseball people – even inside the Sox organization -- who believe Robert is ready for the majors.
Like right now.
Like yesterday, perhaps.
Robert has already forced his way to a quick promotion to Birmingham. He is a special case, with special talent, and in this current rebuilding state of the Sox some would say why stop there — bring him up ASAP.
Why so soon? Robert seems to be a quick study who already demonstrated the ability to adjust. He showed that to manager Rick Renteria two spring trainings ago in Cactus League games.
“He seems to have a feel for making adjustments from at-bat to at-bat,” Renteria said Wednesday. “He’s the type of guy where one at-bat might look like, ‘Oh,’ and the next at-bat is like, ‘Whoa, what happened? He makes a lot of in-game adjustments. That’s what I take from him.”
A case in point: Robert hit a go-ahead grand slam on a slider in the eighth inning of his first Cactus League start in 2018. He had struck out on a slider in his previous at-bat.
After mauling Carolina League pitching as a Winston Salem Dash with a .453/.512/.920 hitting line with eight homers, five doubles and three triples in 19 games, the fleet 6-3, 190-pound Cuban has hit .341/.384/.558 with three homers, 13 doubles and three triples in 32 games at Birmingham.
Why not let him patrol center field for the Sox, inject another shot of juice into a rebuild that is beginning to take shape and see what he can do against major league pitching?
At Soxfest last winter, it was apparent Robert believed he was ready then. But he knows his game experience had been limited by injuries the past two years so as he tries to prove he can stay healthy, he is saying the right things.
“I do have a lot to learn to get the results I want when I get to the majors,” he said through translator Billy Russo during a conference call Thursday. “I know they’re watching my progress. I’m just trying to be as prepared as I can be for when I get to the majors, and be the player everybody thinks I can be and what I can be.”
The front office could point to Eloy Jimenez, who destroyed minor league pitching but is finding it tougher in the majors, where he is batting .226/.279/.387 with six homers and 46 strikeouts in 37 games.
Or Yoan Moncada, who put up productive numbers in his first full season in 2018 but struck out 217 times.
“Everything is a process,” Moncada said through Russo. “We know [Robert is] doing really well down there and that’s good to see. That just reaffirms the tools he has. At the same time it is important to go step by step. The more experience down there, it’s going to prepare you better for all the difficulties you go through here.’’
But what is there to gain from dominating in the minor leagues?
“The big leagues aren’t easy,” Moncada said. “You need to be prepared as much as you can because you have to make adjustments.”
But if a learning curve needs to be navigated in the majors, why not get it over with now so Robert and be ready to hit the ground running in 2020 when the Sox will be better equipped to compete.
Robert said he’s already seeing breaking balls in 2-0 counts at Birmingham, which he didn’t see at Winston-Salem.
“I’ve been making those adjustments. So far I’ve been very good.”
Why not let the good times roll in Chicago?
