Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

White Sox moving Robert up to Triple-A

No. 5 overall prospect will play at third level this season
Luis Robert ranks second in the Southern League in batting, fifth in OPS and sixth in slugging percentage. (Danny Parker/MiLB.com)
July 6, 2019

Luis Robert is one step closer to The Show.MLB.com's No. 5 overall prospect will be promoted to Triple-A Charlotte following Sunday's All-Star Futures Game, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said on Saturday.

Luis Robert is one step closer to The Show.
MLB.com's No. 5 overall prospect will be promoted to Triple-A Charlotte following Sunday's All-Star Futures Game, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said on Saturday.

"In terms of what that means for his future or larger questions about his timeline to Chicago, quite frankly it's premature to really speculate along those lines," Hahn told MLB.com. "As you've heard me say going back to Spring Training when asked about Luis and this season, the two primary goals for him were really, one, get him through the season healthy, and two, ideally at age 21, acclimate himself well in the Double-A Southern League and perform well at that level.
"Knock on wood, the first part has held true so far, and for the second, we feel like he has done a great job so far this year. He's ready for that next challenge."

The promotion comes after Robert put together a .314/.362/.518 slash line in 56 games with Double-A Birmingham. The top White Sox prospect belted eight homers and drove in 29 runs while stealing 21 bases.
"He's a special guy," Barons hitting coach Charles Poe told MiLB.com last month. "He's one of the better baseball players I've ever been around and seen. What he does day in and day out is pretty special."
It's been a whirlwind season for the 21-year-old Cuban. He began the year with Class A Advanced Winston-Salem and batted .453/.512/.920 in only 19 games to earn a bump to the Southern League. He finished last season with the Dash, hitting .244/.317/.309 in 32 contests.

Robert will be joined in Cleveland on Sunday by second baseman and fourth-ranked White Sox prospect Nick Madrigal, who earned a spot on the AL squad after hitting .392 in 25 games with Birmingham.
"It's pretty incredible to see," Madrigal told MLB.com of Robert. "Whether it's on the basepaths, in the outfield, at the plate, you just see how special a player he is. It seems like one at-bat will go by and he'll look fooled at the plate, and the next one he'll be on every single pitch.
"He makes adjustments on the fly. And it's fun hitting behind him, it seems like he's always on base with a chance for him to score every time I'm up. It's been great to play with him."

sdJordan Wolf is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @byjordanwolf.