Chicago White Sox's Robert named USA Today's minor-league player of year
Luis Robert is No. 1.
That's not the 22-year-old center fielder's uniform number — he wore No. 9 at Class AAA Charlotte, Nos. 21 and 26 at Double-A Birmingham and 21 at high A Winston-Salem this season.
No. 1 is where Robert ranks among minor-league players this season, according to USA Today.
“You very rarely see that kind of talent,” Omar Vizquel told the newspaper.
Vizquel was a star major-league shortstop for 24 seasons before joining the Sox's organization last year. He was Robert's manager at Birmingham for 56 games this season.
“I remember seeing Ken Griffey Jr. in the beginning, we broke into the big leagues together in the same year,” Vizquel said. “Ken had that same kind of glow. (Robert) can do it all. He can beat you with a home run, with a stolen base, turn it into a different gear to make a play in the field. When you look at Robert, you see a player like that.”
For as good as he was this season — Robert combined to hit .328/.376/.624 with 32 home runs, 92 RBI and 36 stolen bases over 122 games — the White Sox opted not to add him to their expanded September roster.
Some other news and notes from down on the farm:
• When the Sox move to fill roster holes with free agents and trades this off-season, they won't be looking for catchers.
James McCann is coming back for at least one more season, and Zack Collins is the likely backup.
The White Sox also have Seby Zavala, and Yermin Mercedes has become another option.
Selected by the Sox from Baltimore in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 Draft on December 14, 2017, Mercedes batted .317/.388/.581 with 19 doubles, 23 home runs and 80 RBI in 95 games with Charlotte and Birmingham this season.
• Mercedes was voted the White Sox's minor-league player of the month for August/September. Jonathan Stiever claimed honors for pitcher of the month.
A native of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, Stiever was 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA in 5 August starts for Winston-Salem. For the season, the 2018 fifth-round draft pick was 10-10 with a 3.48 ERA and 154 strikeouts in 145 innings for Winston-Salem and low Class A Kannapolis.
• Luis Robert was the first minor-league player to have 30 or more home runs and stolen bases in a season since the Los Angeles Dodgers' Joc Pederson in 2014.
That only got Robert the No. 5 overall player ranking from MLB.com., behind Tampa Bay's Wander Franco (No. 1), Detroit's Casey Mize, San Diego's MacKenzie Gore and the Angels' Jo Adell.
Baseball America ranks Robert No. 3, behind Franco and Adell.
• On Baseball America's Top 100 list, there is Robert, Andrew Vaughn (No. 26), injured starter Michael Kopech (No. 29) and Nick Madrigal (No. 49).
Vaughn, the White Sox's first-round draft pick this season, batted .278/.384/.449 with 6 home runs and 36 RBI in 55 games with the AZL Sox, Kannapolis and Winston-Salem.
Madrigal, last year's first-round draft pick, slashed .311/.377/.414 in 120 games for Winston-Salem, Birmingham and Charlotte. The second baseman struck out only 16 times in 532 plate appearances.