Go Figure: Robert's start not unlike Thomas'

At age 22, he breaks into the major leagues with the White Sox. An imposing figure, he hits the ball with authority and serves notice that he will be a force for years to come.

About two weeks in, he gets a heavy serving of humble pie by striking out four times in as many at bats during a game. Welcome to the Golden Sombrero club, kid.

This account accurately describes Luis Robert, who celebrated his 23rd birthday this past Monday. Or we could just as easily be alluding to Frank Thomas and his August 1990 debut.

Usually, drawing comparisons between a rookie and a Hall of Famer are premature and unfair. But Robert is anything but usual, a fact driven home three years ago when the Cuban received a $26 million bonus for signing a contract with the White Sox.

The 2019 USA Today Minor League Player of the Year, Robert already has four multihit games, including a home run, two doubles and a single against the Kansas City Royals last Saturday.

Through a dozen games, Robert's batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage slash was .354/.415/.542.

But he also struggled during that span, as evidenced by his Golden Sombrero increasing his team-high tally to 19 strikeouts after 13 games. (Over a full 162-game schedule, that pace would eclipse the all-time MLB mark of 223 strikeouts, set by Mark Reynolds in 2009.)

However, Robert is in good company on both ends of this success-failure spectrum: in his 14th career game, Thomas struck out four times. Despite that setback, coming only one game later than Robert's quadruple-K, The Big Hurt's slash stood at .326/.415/.478.

For all his power, Thomas put the ball in play at an extraordinary clip. He won a batting title and over his 19-year career he walked nearly 20 percent more often than he struck out. He had 10 seasons of 100-plus bases on balls, leading the American League four times in that category, while experiencing only three 100-K campaigns.

Meantime, heading into Friday's action, Robert had only five walks to offset his 19 strikeouts. With more consistent contact, Robert's production should become even more eye-popping.

Q1: On Aug. 17, 1990, 15 days after Thomas made his MLB debut, a Hall of Fame pitcher adorned him with his first Golden Sombrero. Who was it? (Nolan Ryan, Jack Morris, Dennis Eckersley)

• It's an unsettling indicator when you give up one run in an inning and your earned run average plummets. But that is how it played out Thursday when, during mop-up duty of the Cubs' 13-2 loss to the Royals, struggling reliever Craig Kimbrel's ERA fell from 32.40 to 23.63.

Just the same, ignore the inflated figure: virtually every night, multiple pitchers get bloated ERAs - as high as infinity - because they get hammered without getting any, or many, out. Kimbrel just so happens to have had a series of these bad outings. He's bound to stop walking so many guys and tipping his pitches ... right?

Despite Kimbrel's woes, the Cubs have burst out to a strong start, thanks in part to hitting home runs in each of their first eight games. The last time the team achieved that feat at a campaign's outset was 1958, when the Cubs won six of their first eight games.

Q2: During that season-opening surge in 1958, a Cub led the team with four home runs, including three homers and eight RBI in that eighth game, a 15-2 rout of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Who was this slugger who went on to play in that season's All-Star Game? (Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Lee Walls)

Q3: Both Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward turn 31 this weekend - Rizzo on Saturday and Heyward on Sunday. Their births came on the anniversary of, respectively, the Cubs' first night baseball action (washed out by rain) and first official game.

On those two August 1989 days, a Chicago infielder hit home runs in each contest, helping fuel a three-game sweep of the Montreal Expos at Wrigley Field. Who was it? (Mark Grace, Ryne Sandberg, Shawon Dunston)

Answers: 1. Nolan Ryan; 2. Lee Walls; 3. Ryne Sandberg

• Matt Baron, an Oak Park-based freelance writer, supplements his baseball brainpower with Retrosheet.org for research.