The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Robles on the fast track
Speedster generates buzz as ‘can’t miss’ prospect.
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. — The one thing that strikes you about Victor Robles is his speed, his genuine smile, his powerful arm, his confident presence at age 20, his ability to adjust to wind-blown flies instantly, his fearlessness in proximity to fastballs and walls, his diving catches, his work ethic and his gap-to-gap line-drive power.
Oh, sorry, is that more than one thing?
Also, his role model is fellow Dominican David Ortiz because “he has great passion on the field. But see how humble he stays off it. I look up to him.”
That’s the problem with Robles. Just because he may be a nanosecond faster than Trea Turner, because his on-base-plus-slugging percentages last year at Potomac (high Class A), Harrisburg (AA) and the top-prospect Arizona Fall League were a deliciously monotonous .872, .883 and .877 and because he looked comfortable in a brief September call-up to the majors (.795), folks tend to get carried away.
Anyone who doesn’t call Robles a top-five prospect gets drummed out of the rate-a-phenom industry (even though such experts have positively identified “the next Willie Mays” more than 100 times, yet there’s still been only one).
Adding to this problem of accurate honest perception, the Nationals, in trade negotiations over the past two years, consistently give the impression that they would not deal Robles for Your Whole Team.
Some scouts even compare Robles to Andrew McCutcheon, the Pirates centerfielder who in 201314-15 finished third, first and third for National League MVP. Those with restraint say Lorenzo Cain.
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, who so far has not made a mistaken projection on his best prospects, contributes to this intolerable situation by refusing to say, “Stop that.” Instead, he said, “I don’t compare him to McCutcheon. I just say he’s Robles.” This sounds reasonable, except that when asked to elaborate, Rizzo looks at you like you have the IQ of a spaniel and says, “He’s really good.”
Then, Rizzo won’t say any more except, perhaps, “As advertised.” When a lifelong scout who is the son of a lifelong scout won’t talk about his prospect, it means he’s scared. He doesn’t want to breath on the kid.
Because I can’t find anyone who will do Robles the favor of limiting expectations, I’ll try — a little. Besides all that praise in the first graph, one other thing strikes me: Robles, who’s spent just about a month in Class AA ball, could probably use a half-season in Class AAA. All he sees here in spring training is breaking balls, change-ups and a few fastballs to brush him back. He doesn’t look overmatched. But he deserves a few hundred at-bats, not a few dozen, to adjust to the great delineator among quick-twitch hitters: learning to handle junk.
In 2012, Davey Johnson, when asked how good Bryce Harper would be, said, “The pitchers tell you. He’s 19 and they’re already working him tougher than anybody on my team. They pitch him like Babe Ruth.”
“That’s how they’re pitching Robles, too,” new Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of his future centerfielder, who is 9 for 41 here with three doubles, a homer, six RBI, several amazing defensive plays, but a tendency to be tempted by pitcher’s pitches early in the count and make quick outs.
“They have been pitching me a little bit difficult,” Robles said through an interpreter. “And it is a compliment because they are respecting me.”
Robles has gotten a rare chance to play every day because outfielders Adam Eaton and Michael A. Taylor haven’t been ready to play — until now. Both were in the Nats lineup Saturday. Barely 10 days from opening day, they’ll need all the work they can get to prepare for the season. With Harper in right as well as Howie Kendrick and Brian Goodwin in bench roles, they’re no room for Robles — yet.
Once he comes up, he’ll stay up. And he’ll play every day — for years.
“It’s an opportunity,” Robles said of all his playing time this spring and the off-chance of making the opening day roster if injuries struck. “If I get it, then I’m going to take advantage of it. If they do give it to me, then they are giving me the confidence to play and I’ll try to show what I can do.”
Whether Robles’ time as a full-time Washington fixture starts soon, or in June, soon after his 21st birthday or not until next year, the sense of anticipation surrounds him. The MLB consensus is that Robles will not be brought up until a date in June that would be late enough to delay his free agency by a year until after the 2024 season.
Perhaps Martinez has the clearest view. No one knows how well Robles will hit early in his career. Projecting 20-year-old prospects precisely makes lunar landings look simple. So, Martinez tells Robles, “There are two constants: defense and running the bases. If you do those two things, you can always help the team.”
That defense already has stunned the Nats in spring training.
“He gets such fast first step. And he adjusts so fast,” Martinez said. “One liner dove and hooked at the last second. He stopped on a dot, changed direction, caught it and almost doubled a runner off first base. You can’t teach instincts.”
You also can’t teach baseball temperament. But Robles seems to have that, too. Sean Doolittle, whose locker is near Robles’s, said, “He gets here early.” All rookies are watched for their habits as well as their talent.
“Victor sees the game like a veteran. He came up with men on second and third base. He got a fastball away,” said Martinez, who knows how much Robles loves to hunt fastballs and must have wanted to crush that one. “He just lined it to right for two runs,” said Martinez, imitating a casual flick of the wrists.
“He watches. All the time, his eyes are on the field,” added the manager, whom Robles calls “Chief.” “The good players see the details.”