Expect some growing pains when top prospect Luis Robert joins the Sox next year
American League batting leader Tim Anderson and emerging MVP candidate Yoan Moncada both played with White Sox prospect Luis Robert when they were on rehab assignments for Class AAA Charlotte earlier this season.
"(Robert) brings a lot of tools," Anderson said. "He can run, he's fast. He's a good defensive player and he can hit. He can do everything."
"He's talented, and we're all seeing that," Moncada said through a translator. "I think he's ready for this level."
After being the best player in the league at three levels this year - the Carolina League with high Class A Winston-Salem, the Southern League with AA Birmingham and the International League with Charlotte - the White Sox decided Robert proved enough.
They declined to bring the 22-year-old center fielder to the major leagues when rosters expanded in September, so Sox fans will have to wait until 2020 before getting their first look at an impressive talent who combined to hit .328/.376/.624 with 32 home runs, 92 RBI and 36 stolen bases in 122 minor-league games.
Are the White Sox delaying the service time clock in order to get another year of contractual control with Robert?
They deny the motive, but all major-league teams do.
Maybe the Sox sign Robert to a longterm contract in spring training and put him on the Opening Day roster, like they did with Eloy Jimenez in March. Or maybe they exploit the controversial service time system and bring Robert up a few weeks into the season.
Either way, Robert is going to be up and running next year, and there is little doubt he has a good chance to wind up becoming the best of a strong group of young Sox players.
That doesn't mean Robert is going to be a star from Day 1.
"Luis had a tremendous year," said Chris Getz, the White Sox's director of player development. "With every challenge we gave him, he seemed to perform even better. You look back at the year, you dive into some of the things he was able to accomplish. There's some wow in the numbers, but you dive in a little bit deeper, there are some things he does still need to refine."
Moncada was an equally heralded minor-league prospect, as was Jimenez, the Sox's rookie left fielder.
Moncada had the most strikeouts in the major leagues last year, and it took Jimenez most of the current season to finally get comfortable as a hitter.
Expect the same growing pains for Robert.
"He's such an aggressive athlete, which works in his favor," Getz said. "But when it comes to making decisions at the plate, he's going to have to refine that a bit. We know when you get up here that pitchers are going to attack you a little bit different and see if you'll chase pitches out of the zone or swing at pitches that you prefer not to.
"(Robert) is a young player who can square up a lot of different types of pitches and drive it a long way, so I certainly get the excitement when he walks to the box. But it's about putting together a professional at-bat, which we feel like he's getting closer to."
With Winston-Salem, Birmingham and Charlotte this year, Robert struck out 129 times in 551 plate appearances while drawing only 28 walks. Like Jimenez, he'll likely see a steady diet of breaking pitches off the plate until he gets comfortable with big-league pitching.
Getting through the long season healthy and strong is another concern with Robert.
"Conditioning-wise, he's gifted in the sense that he rolls out of bed, he's a good-looking athlete prepared to go out there and compete," Getz said of the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder. "Playing a major-league season is a different animal, in terms of nutrition and the type of training that works toward his game. We're going to educate him as much as we can to prepare him to compete, not only for a regular season but also for a playoff run."