Fear the ChiSox? Chicago is stacked with confident young talent that could be bubbling up for a run at the playoffs.
PHOENIX – When Yoan Moncada went to Class AAA Charlotte (North Carolina) on a rehab assignment in August, he noticed prized White Sox prospect Luis Robert was anxious, wondering why the club had not called him up.
After all, Robert had scalded the ball at his previous two levels in the minors last year and he wound up putting up a .974 on-base plus slugging percentage with Charlotte.
Moncada had gone through a similar experience three years before, tearing it up at Class A and AA before getting a lateseason call-up to the majors – where he flopped in an eightgame look-see. So he tried to instill patience in his fellow native of Cuba.
“I told him not to worry, that everything would come in due time,” said Moncada, now Chicago’s standout third baseman at 24. “He had to get a bit more experience in Triple-A and get a sense for a higher caliber of baseball. I think he’s ready for this level now.”
That’s what the White Sox are banking on as they transition into phase two of a rebuild that began three years ago and is starting to show signs of paying off.
Robert, a 22-year-old center fielder, fits right in the middle of the desired transformation from longtime sub-.500 team into contender, along with outfielder Eloy Jimenez, Moncada, shortstop Tim Anderson and pitchers Lucas Giolito and Michael Kopech. Anderson is the oldest at 26.
The White Sox haven’t made the playoffs since 2008 and posted two winning seasons in that stretch, but they’re starting to generate excitement as the young talent they’ve piled up begins to yield results.
Last season, when the White Sox finished third in the American League Central at 72-89, Anderson won the batting title and Moncada was third in the race. Giolito had the league’s fifth-best ERA.
“We’ve had a lot of guys who have been here the last couple of years start to have breakthrough-type seasons,” manager Rick Renteria said. “So we’re moving in the right direction.”
And here comes Robert, an athletically gifted physical athlete who stands 6-3, runs like the wind and is widely considered one of the game’s top prospects. He was named USA TODAY Sports’ Minor League Player of the Year last season. General manager Rick Hahn calls him “a scout’s dream.”
Having long enjoyed success with Cuban players – such as Jose Abreu, Alexei Ramirez and Jose Contreras – the White Sox lured Robert with a $26 million bonus in May 2017, six months after he defected from the island.
A sprained ligament in his left thumb and other lesser injuries limited his performance in 2018, but Robert took off when fully healthy in 2019.
“La Pantera” – a nickname he says suits him “because panthers are black and they’re always running fast” – struck with startling ferocity in displaying his five-tool package. Across the three minor league levels, including 47 games at AAA, he batted .328 with a 1.001 OPS, 32 homers, 36 steals, 11 triples and 92 RBI.
In early January, the White Sox signed him to a six-year, $50 million contract (which could wind up being worth $88 million over eight years), the largest ever for a player yet to make his major league debut.
Robert said he’s undaunted by the large outlay, which he sees as proof of the club’s confidence in him.
“I already got a good-sized contract before this one and I stayed the same,” he said in Spanish. “I didn’t change how I went about the game or my mindset, so I’ll just continue to do my best.”
Moncada, who received a
$31.5 million bonus from the
Red Sox in 2015 that set the record for an amateur, acknowledged it’s hard for young players not to put pressure on themselves to try to live up to such huge payouts. The switch-hitting infielder endured several ups and downs before last year’s breakthrough, and he advises Robert to simply have fun playing the game.
The young hotshot doesn’t lack for guidance. His spring training locker is located between Abreu’s and Moncada’s, and his countrymen will be around to share their knowledge if Robert makes the big club as expected.
Abreu had already defected by the time Robert broke into Cuba’s Serie Nacional at 16, but he watched one of the island’s biggest stars on TV and now marvels at having him as a teammate.
“I think it’s the best thing that could have happened to me here in the United States, to be on the same team with someone like him who has been playing at this level for years with excellent results,” Robert said of the three-time All-Star, who led the AL with 123 RBI last season. “I want to follow in his footsteps and do as well as he has.”
The White Sox have added other veterans to supplement Abreu, among them catcher Yasmani Grandal, designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion and 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel.
The first two are known for their keen hitting eye and might help instill patience on a team that drew the fewest walks in the majors in 2019. Keuchel should bolster a rotation whose 5.30 ERA tied for 10th in the AL.
Still, the White Sox might need speedy development from such young pitchers as Kopech – coming back from Tommy John surgery – and fellow righthander Dylan Cease, who had a 5.79 ERA in 14 starts as a rookie last year, to have a realistic chance at a playoff spot.
Hahn said growing into a contender could take months, a full season or happen quickly, depending on what pieces fall into place.
“The important thing to keep in mind, at least from our standpoint, is this was never done with the ambition of competing for one year,” he said of the rebuilding project. “This was done with a long-term plan in mind.”
Renteria is among those who sees parallels between Moncada and Robert, and not just because of their background. They’re both dynamic players who can impact the game from the batter’s box, in the field and on the base paths. Before producing last year’s stellar .915 OPS, Moncada struck out a major league-high 217 times in 2018.
Robert is likely to run into similar hardships, so Renteria is willing to give him space and time to grow.
“Talent, well-directed, has a way of auto-correcting itself,” Renteria said. “You just have to stay out of the way sometimes. I’m hoping that will be the case for all the youngsters we have. They need experience. They need to be in the fire. We have a lot of guys who have gone through it who will be able to help them.”