Luis Robert’s introduction uncommonly smooth for White Sox prospects

Luis Robert's 2019 season in the minors bordered on myth, so I'd wondered how long it would take for the majors to make him mortal.

One series in, the legend still lives.

Robert came to the plate 12 times in the opening series against the Minnesota Twins, and he went 4-for-11 with a homer, double, walk and three strikeouts. All four of the hits clocked in at 100 mph or harder, so BABIP isn't bailing him out. Those three strikeouts were spread out over the three games, and he also hit safely in all three games. He checked off his "first hit" box on his first pitch, and added "first home run" and the often-elusive "first walk." Throw in a couple of rangy catches to both gaps without any misplays to speak of, and it's safe to say he won the weekend.

On the podcast, Josh wondered if it was the best performance by a White Sox prospect out of the gate, at least in recent memory. It's an overstatement to say that every White Sox rookie faces immediate hurdles -- Yolmer Sánchez, Trayce Thompson and Tyler Saladino all impressed out of the gate -- but it feels like the ones who generated the most excitement at the farm level often test the patience of fans in the majors before holding their own.

That's the kind of thing I would look up before attempting to answer definitively -- and so here I am, looking it up and answering it definitively.

Indeed, of all the prospects who were top-100 material in their recent histories (which leaves out Matt Davidson) and were called up to play every day (which leaves out Dayan Viciedo), Robert stands out. Only one White Sox can say he has Robert beat ... and outlets debated whether he actually qualified as a prospect.

Abreu showed up in the United States meeting the hype as the "best hitter you've never heard of," charting a course for the Rookie of the Year Award and some MVP votes as well. Given that he was a 27-year-old on a $68 million contract, he's not quite a peer in this group.

Everybody else needed a considerable amount of time to find their footing during their rookie seasons, if they found it at all.

Jiménez: His production trolled the floor for 30 games (.205/.258/.384) before he found a way to sustain upward mobility.

Collins: Hit .082 through his first 17 games (60 plate appearances), but rallied over his last 10 games to improve his forecast, strikeouts notwithstanding.

Moncada: He couldn't hoist his average over the Mendoza Line for good until his 38th game. but he put a strong cap on the year, hitting .305/.374/.500 over his last 20 games.

Anderson: He had the second-easist introduction of the non-Abreus, as he was more or less fine by the end of his second series. Fun fact: Anderson's batting title in 2019 basically reset his career line to where it was after his rookie season:

• 2016: .283/.306/.432
• Career: /276/.302/.433

García: He followed a similar path as Anderson, as he strung together than 11-game hitting streak starting in his second series with the White Sox. Then again, García came to the Sox with a couple stints of MLB experience under his best as part of the Detroit Tigers.

Beckham: As sensational his rookie year was, he had the roughest first few weeks of anybody, opening his career with a 2-for-28 slump. He eventually righted the ship for the rest of the year, although the less said about the career that followed, the better.

Robert will face three capable right-handed starters over the next two days in Cleveland -- including a Cy Young candidate on Wednesday -- so there's a chance his inaugural slump is merely delayed. Regardless of what lies ahead in the short term, it's cool and generous of Robert to waste little time showing fans what his game's supposed to look like when it's full speed ahead. And since none of know how many games the White Sox will actually be able to play this year, immediate production looks like an increasingly smart idea.