Not just the tools themselves, but seeing those tools actually develop in the majors. I try to avoid making my mind to go places like this but with Robert I just can't avoid it. He came to us with so much hype, and at every level of his development he's exceeded or outright destroyed the expectations like it was a joke to him.

My first thought is of course Frank Thomas, easily the greatest hitter we've ever had, but he wasn't a Gold Glove infielder and he didn't run like Luis.

You know my views - Robert has the potential to be the greatest Sox player in franchise history.  And I legitimately mean that. I'm not saying he will be - but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if it held true, nor would I be surprised if he was an MVP/best player in all of baseball.  I was worried how he would come back from the injury and whether it would impact his explosiveness - but so far so good. The guy is just SO freaking talented and despite that he has so much room in his game left to grow too...which is what is scary (in a good way).  

It is also why when so many people on this site get worried about the ups and downs of baseball - I Just look across this roster and see so many guys with all star talent and in this case a guy with MVP talent that it is hard not to get giddy about the possibilities.  We should all remember that - especially during the dog days of summer.  

I am not going to say this lightly, but the man has Trout tools.  The big thing he needs to do is stay healthy.  If he can play 150 games a season, he will be an MVP level guy.  He has it all.  The Sox have never had a guy with the whole package like Luis has.  We have had a HOF hitter in Frank, but he couldn't field to save his life.  We have had insane defenders, who couldn't hit.  We had guys like Magglio Ordonez who fielded pretty well, and could hit the shit out of the ball, but didn't have ++ speed.

If Luis Robert stays healthy, he is a human cheat code.

He's a baseball savant, KW was right, an incredible scouting find and sell job to JR.  And yes, I think he's the most talented in WS history.  Might not be the best, he need about 60 WAR to pass Frank, but he's the most talented.  He has a 10 WAR season in him if he can stay healthy.

5 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said:

You know my views - Robert has the potential to be the greatest Sox player in franchise history.  And I legitimately mean that. I'm not saying he will be - but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if it held true, nor would I be surprised if he was an MVP/best player in all of baseball.  I was worried how he would come back from the injury and whether it would impact his explosiveness - but so far so good. The guy is just SO freaking talented and despite that he has so much room in his game left to grow too...which is what is scary (in a good way).  

It is also why when so many people on this site get worried about the ups and downs of baseball - I Just look across this roster and see so many guys with all star talent and in this case a guy with MVP talent that it is hard not to get giddy about the possibilities.  We should all remember that - especially during the dog days of summer.  

I always feel like I gotta hedge myself when I talk about him and use "could be" or "potentially" so I am not putting him on the level of Mike Trout - can't really say that until he's actually done it - but the tools are there, if this guy does 150-155 games in a season he is a 8+ WAR type of player.

There is always the worrying about how he's gonna respond when pitchers start exploiting his weaknesses but he's already had a couple of rounds of that. The sliders just off the plate were killing him but he's seeing those a lot better. And this is just the beta version of him, he keeps getting better. I'm wondering when he is gonna plateau and it hasn't happened.

His second home run yesterday was a great example of how much power this guy has.  He might have hit that ball with 50% of his power, and it easily found the seats.  That ridiculous power is just a part of his game.  His speed, which is understandably and purposefully down a bit right now, might even be a more important part of his game.  He can run out singles that should have been outs, turn singles into doubles, turn doubles into stand-up triples, and get to balls in the outfield with ease.  He makes tough plays look routine regularly.

He's young and still raw.  He's going to get better, and if he even comes close to most of his potential in all areas, he's going to be one of the best players in baseball for a long time.  I don't know if the Sox ever had a player with as much raw talent.  Guys like this don't come along very often.

You gotta wonder if he can ever get to that next-level plate patience (eg. more walks than strike-outs).  I feel like most of the true greats we're talking about either always had that kind of patience or worked their way to it (eg. Thomas, Trout, etc).  

Not saying he can't get there - but if he does he will be truly scary player at the plate.

Edited August 30, 20214 yr by Spumoni

Just now, hogan873 said:

His second home run yesterday was a great example of how much power this guy has.  He might have hit that ball with 50% of his power, and it easily found the seats.  That ridiculous power is just a part of his game.  His speed, which is understandably and purposefully down a bit right now, might even be a more important part of his game.  He can run out singles that should have been outs, turn singles into doubles, turn doubles into stand-up triples, and get to balls in the outfield with ease.  He makes tough plays look routine regularly.

He's young and still raw.  He's going to get better, and if he even comes close to most of his potential in all areas, he's going to be one of the best players in baseball for a long time.  I don't know if the Sox ever had a player with as much raw talent.  Guys like this don't come along very often.

That one looked like he could have taken a swing with just his left hand and still put it over the fence. Wasn't even much of a swing.

13 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said:

You know my views - Robert has the potential to be the greatest Sox player in franchise history.  And I legitimately mean that. I'm not saying he will be - but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if it held true, nor would I be surprised if he was an MVP/best player in all of baseball.  I was worried how he would come back from the injury and whether it would impact his explosiveness - but so far so good. The guy is just SO freaking talented and despite that he has so much room in his game left to grow too...which is what is scary (in a good way).  

It is also why when so many people on this site get worried about the ups and downs of baseball - I Just look across this roster and see so many guys with all star talent and in this case a guy with MVP talent that it is hard not to get giddy about the possibilities.  We should all remember that - especially during the dog days of summer.  

If he stays healthy, I think he definitely could be the greatest overall player in franchise history. He has it all.

Frank and Juan Silverio had huge potential. Frank obviously lived up to it. Tough comparison because Frank was an otherworldly hitter in an era where guys were juicing up. If Frank was truly clean like he says (and like I believe), it makes his offensive production even more impressive. His numbers in his prime were out of a videogame.

No.

30 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said:

You know my views - Robert has the potential to be the greatest Sox player in franchise history.  And I legitimately mean that. I'm not saying he will be - but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if it held true, nor would I be surprised if he was an MVP/best player in all of baseball.  I was worried how he would come back from the injury and whether it would impact his explosiveness - but so far so good. The guy is just SO freaking talented and despite that he has so much room in his game left to grow too...which is what is scary (in a good way).  

It is also why when so many people on this site get worried about the ups and downs of baseball - I Just look across this roster and see so many guys with all star talent and in this case a guy with MVP talent that it is hard not to get giddy about the possibilities.  We should all remember that - especially during the dog days of summer.  

Offensively it's next to impossible he'll ever be as great as frank. Overall he's got a gamblers chance but it comes down to how long he can sustain his skills. 

It’s crazy how good he is already. The one chink in the otherwise flawless looking armor seems to be walk rate, is that expected to improve, or is he about a 40-50 walk a year guy?

Dick Allen with very similar raw talent. 

hard to say so early... hopefully his speed didnt take too big a hit from the hip injury.

he certainly has power.

The answer I believe is still Frank Thomas because the tools he did have were so extreme that they make up for the ones he didn't have. But Robert is up there.

30 minutes ago, harkness99 said:

hard to say so early... hopefully his speed didnt take too big a hit from the hip injury.

he certainly has power.

he's made a full recovery from his hip injury I don't see it hindering his speed at all. might make him think twice about going 100% on every ball out of the box, and that is a good thing.

He’s really really really good. 

It's interesting. He's obviously the best athlete the Sox have had. Hard to beat Frank though. Frank's probably a top 5 RH hitter of all time. 

Edited August 30, 20214 yr by TaylorStSox

In my opinion, WIllie Mays is the greatest around-player of all time. I think Robert has a chance to be that or at least rival that.

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

I am not going to say this lightly, but the man has Trout tools.  The big thing he needs to do is stay healthy.  If he can play 150 games a season, he will be an MVP level guy.  He has it all.  The Sox have never had a guy with the whole package like Luis has.  We have had a HOF hitter in Frank, but he couldn't field to save his life.  We have had insane defenders, who couldn't hit.  We had guys like Magglio Ordonez who fielded pretty well, and could hit the shit out of the ball, but didn't have ++ speed.

If Luis Robert stays healthy, he is a human cheat code.

First off, yes.  Luis is what they touted Beltran to be and quite frankly, even though Beltran is a future hall of famer, I'm still not sure he lived up to his potential.  

That being said, it's my recollection that Frank was an adequate fielder.  Frank was always a good athlete.  He was a very good Tight End at Auburn.  I recall seeing him make some pretty good plays in the field.  And I always wanted him to play 1st as he always was a better hitter when got to play D.  Am I just misremembering? 

1 hour ago, MnSoxFan said:

Dick Allen with very similar raw talent. 

Dick Allen doesn't get talked about enough on this forum.  He was undoubtedly a special player.  I feared for the pitcher on more than a few occasions.

4 minutes ago, Colome's Hat said:

First off, yes.  Luis is what they touted Beltran to be and quite frankly, even though Beltran is a future hall of famer, I'm still not sure he lived up to his potential.  

That being said, it's my recollection that Frank was an adequate fielder.  Frank was always a good athlete.  He was a very good Tight End at Auburn.  I recall seeing him make some pretty good plays in the field.  And I always wanted him to play 1st as he always was a better hitter when got to play D.  Am I just misremembering? 

Good fielder but had absolutely no arm.

2 minutes ago, poppysox said:

Dick Allen doesn't get talked about enough on this forum.  He was undoubtedly a special player.  I feared for the pitcher on more than a few occasions.

Because most of this forum wasn't alive then.

3 minutes ago, Colome's Hat said:

First off, yes.  Luis is what they touted Beltran to be and quite frankly, even though Beltran is a future hall of famer, I'm still not sure he lived up to his potential.  

That being said, it's my recollection that Frank was an adequate fielder.  Frank was always a good athlete.  He was a very good Tight End at Auburn.  I recall seeing him make some pretty good plays in the field.  And I always wanted him to play 1st as he always was a better hitter when got to play D.  Am I just misremembering? 

He threw like an 8 year old.  Turned all of four 3-6-3 double plays in his life, IIRC.  (Easy to prove me wrong, cuz I didn't look it up.)