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Like White Sox, Robert embracing high expectations

He's already viewed as one of the best young players the White Sox have ever produced, but there is a learning curve Luis Robert has to navigate as a major-league rookie this season.

The first test actually came Friday night, shortly after the opening ceremonies at SoxFest.

In a service hallway at cavernous McCormick Place, Robert was spotted wandering around looking for the right door to lead him to an autograph session.

The 22-year-old is undoubtedly going to be lost at times as he settles in with the Sox, but there is very little doubt Robert is going to make a major impact sooner than later.

"Let's see," White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu said through a translator. "I think everybody's excited to see what kind of player he can be. I think the stats, the numbers are going to be there. But I don't know.

"We haven't started the season yet. We don't know if he's going to have ups and downs. We can't predict that. What I can say is he's going to have people around him, supporting him and guiding him and giving him as much advice as we can because we already have the experience. Anytime we can help him, we're going to do it."

Abreu, a native of Cuba like Robert, is the ideal big brother figure. While Robert was doing a media interview at SoxFest Friday, the 32-year-old Abreu carefully listened in and monitored his answers.

Robert was wearing flashy clothes that went well with his bleached blonde hair, but he actually has a laid-back demeanor. Off the field, that is.

On the field, the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder is all action.

"I'm going to do my best every single day and try to get good results," Robert said through a translator. "If for whatever reason I don't get the results that I'm hoping for, it won't be for a lack of effort."

A nagging thumb injury in 2018 dropped Robert way down the prospect charts, but he was healthy last season. The results were, in a word, staggering.

Playing at high Class A Winston-Salem, AA Birmingham and AAA Charlotte, Robert combined to hit .328/.376/.624 with 32 home runs, 92 RBI and 36 stolen bases over 122 games.

Even though he's yet to play a major-league game, Robert has already been compared to Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Vladimir Guerrero.

On Friday, White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez dropped a Mike Trout comp.

No pressure at all, Luis.

"Having a guy like him that has five tools, it's very exciting to see," Jimenez said.

With spring training opening in just over two weeks, the Sox are facing much higher expectations than they did in recent seasons. Manager Rick Renteria has already set making the playoffs as the primary goal.

Robert has some lofty aims of his own.

"I want to be Rookie of the Year and win a championship," said Robert, who agreed to a six-year, $50 million contract on Jan. 2. "I think last year was very important. Even though I had short stints at every single level in the minors, I think that experience was good for me. I had a chance to taste what it was like growing up in the minors.

"When I got to Triple-A, it really challenged me because I knew that the level there was high compared to the other levels. But I feel that experience made me better. It prepared me for what is coming in the big leagues."

Big things are undoubtedly in store, but the White Sox are prepared for Robert to experience some growing pains.

"Early last season, you saw how teams treated Eloy," Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "They treated him like a seasoned veteran in terms of setting him up and trying to exploit some weaknesses off the plate with breaking balls. I think you're going to see Luis get that same treatment. I don't think you're going to see too many guys challenging him early with fastballs because they're going to know the scouting report.

"He's not a finished product at age 22. Obviously, a guy who's played pro ball for a little over two full seasons, basically. But that acclimation period, I think could well come together fairly quickly. We'll find out together, but we're certainly very excited to see that development."

Robert report

What some notable baseball publications are saying about Luis Robert, who will be a rookie center fielder for the White Sox this season:

"Robert is the most tooled-up player the White Sox have had in their system in years and boasts a body befitting of an NFL tight end. His rust and injuries in his first two years obscured his talent. Robert's pure hitting ability might be his weakest tool - which is saying something after he posted a .328 average across three levels last season - because of the swing-and-miss in his game. He will chase pitches out of the zone, and scouts have noticed that he has the tendency to commit a bit early on breaking balls designed to get hitters to chase.

Internally, the White Sox say that trait appears in part because pitchers have learned to stay away from the juicy parts of the strike zone, which leads Robert to get impatient and try to do damage on pitcher's pitches. If pitchers do bring the ball in the zone, Robert can use his strong hands, muscular frame and elite bat speed to pummel pitches out to all parts of the park. That power was best displayed in 2019 on a home run in Birmingham that cleared the batter's eye in center field.

On defense, Robert uses near-elite speed to chase balls down to all four quadrants of center field. His arm is double-plus as well, he had 7 outfield assists in 2019, which gives him a weapon not present in the skillsets of most center fielders.

- Baseball America

...

With a new swing in 2019, Robert dropped his groundball rate to 29% and his homers went way up, smashing 32 in 551 plate appearances. There are still concerns about Robert's ability to hit good breaking pitches, and his low (5%) walk rate with a strikeout rate near 25% shows there are still swing-and-miss issues that need to be worked out. Despite those concerns, his ability to play a good center field combined with improving his swing, and the effort and ability that takes, instills more confidence that Robert will be able to get to his power in major-league games.

This likely moves Robert up to a 60 FV (future value, on an 80 scale) this season, the same as (Eloy) Jimenez was a year ago. Robert already projects for roughly three wins over the course of a full season at just 22 years old. He will join Yoan Moncada (24), Tim Anderson(26) and Jimenez (23) to make one of the more exciting young cores in baseball, with Nick Madrigal (22) on the way and the enigmatic, groundball-heavy Nomar Mazara (24) also part of the lineup.

- FanGraphs

...

Signed to a six-year, $50 million contract with two club options in January - before he made his big-league debut - Robert will make that deal look like a bargain if he approaches his lofty ceiling. Few players anywhere can match his electric combination of bat speed and foot speed, both of which grade as well above average. His huge right-handed power plays to all fields and he repeatedly drives the ball in the air, though he may have to develop more patience when pitchers refuse to challenge him.

Considered more of a solid runner before he left Cuba, Robert started showing dramatically improved speed during the tryout process. He still could use some refinement as a base stealer and center fielder, though he's fast enough to already be an asset in both regards. Some scouts consider his arm a third well above-average tool, and he's capable of playing anywhere in the outfield.

- MLB Pipeline

...

There was a temptation to write Robert off after he failed to hit even a single home run during an injury-plagued 2018, but the steadfast were rewarded with a breakout 2019 season in which he positioned himself as a Rotisserie darling, one who surely would have gotten a late-season look for a more competitive team. He's not the perfect prospect, coming up short in the plate discipline department, but his tools are so loud that you can be sure he'll impact the game in some way.

- CBS Sports

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