Chicago White Sox: Is Luis Robert better than Eloy Jimenez?
The Chicago White Sox have a lot of great potential stars coming into their own, but one might stand out above the rest of them.
The Chicago White Sox are loaded with lots of young talent. They have a lot of it already at the Major League level but some of it has yet to arrive. One that should arrive as soon as opening day is Luis Robert. He signed a big deal before ever playing a Major League Baseball game but the contract says that the team is going to be expecting a lot from him. He has all of the potential to become the best player on this team.
On NBC’s “White Sox Talk Podcast”, it came up that the play by play announcer for the Charlotte Knights Michael Pacheco believes that Luis Robert is the best position player he has ever seen in the White Sox organization. He has been a part of the organization to some capacity for 19 years so that is some high praise from a guy like that.
Pacheco believes that Luis Robert makes Eloy Jimenez look like a little leaguer in comparison. That doesn’t sound like any disrespect to Jimenez because we all know how great he is. It is more of a compliment to Robert if anything. Jimenez was a can’t miss prospect and he showed why during the 2019 season, especially in the second half. If Robert turned out to be 90% as good as him it would be amazing so the thought of him being better is even more exciting.
Jimenez has already proved he can be an effective MLB player and that was just year one. He has the tools to be one of the best power hitters in all of baseball. He came in fourth place of the Rookie of the Year ballot as he hit 31 home runs. His awesome numbers also came with two semi-long stints on the injured list. If Robert can go on to compete with numbers like that the 2020 White Sox will be in great shape.
So is it realistic to believe that he is this good? Yeah, it actually is. Robert almost got better as he moved up Minor League Baseball. When it should have gotten harder he seemed to improve his numbers. He might struggle a little bit at first but it isn’t crazy to believe he can be just as good if not better than Jimenez in year one. There is no reason to think he won’t at least be in the running for the Rookie of the Year himself. It is also possible that Eloy turns out to be the better hitter of the two but Robert’s defense might also play a role in him being an all-around better player.
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Either way, both of these two players have elite player potential. The even better news is that they will both be members of the Chicago White Sox for a long time. They both signed long term extensions before they ever took an MLB at-bat. The future is bright on the South Side with these two helping lead the way.