frank thomas on robert

[idseer]

On Monday’s edition of "White Sox Pregame Live," the Big Hurt sounded off, suggesting it was time for a change.
"I’m just a big fan of this kid, and I’ve seen talent in this league for a long time," he said. "We’re wasting a superstar right now. That’s what we’re doing.
"I spent 20 years in baseball, at a high level. This guy is too good to be stuck in the 7-hole with no protection in the lineup. This guy proved to us he can be a superstar right off the bat. He’s got 11 home runs and 30 RBIs, but that happened a month ago. And now he’s stuck, sitting in the 7-hole, with no protection, slider after slider after slider after slider. You’re not going to do anything offensively."
The majority of Robert's at-bats this season have come in the No. 7 spot, and prior to the month of September, he had a .288 batting average there. He's hit seven of his 11 home runs this season from the 7-hole. On the season, Robert is hitting just .219 in 105 plate appearances as the No. 7 hitter. That includes 32 at-bats in his ugly month of September.
But Robert has batted elsewhere during his rookie season, filling in for the then-injured Tim Anderson as the White Sox leadoff man early on in the campaign. He hit .357 in those seven games.
"This guy his whole life has hit second or third,” Thomas said Monday. "Now he’s batting seventh on this team.
"We know what he can do. He’s got the legs. He’s got the power. He’s a five-tool superstar. But right now, we’re not getting any offense because he’s in his own head because he knows he’s not going to get anything to hit over the plate. And once he gets it, he misses it because he’s not expecting it."
Prior to Monday night's series-opener in Cleveland, Robert was 0-for-his-last-18 with eight strikeouts.
"We’ve already paid the guy, what, $80 million? You want this guy to shine," Thomas continued.
"You got to get him up in the middle of the lineup, get his confidence going because all great hitters, if you have no confidence, you become what he is right now, looking for two pitches, with one ball."
Where would Robert bat if Thomas was writing out the White Sox lineup?
Batting in between the White Sox two MVP candidates, Tim Anderson and José Abreu, would give Robert protection that Thomas is talking about. That would require dropping veteran Yasmani Grandal lower in the lineup. Grandal entered Monday’s game hitting .234 with a .358 on-base percentage.
Whatever the solution, Thomas believes using this week would benefit Robert and the White Sox as they head into their first postseason in 12 years.
"I’m not saying leave him there," he said. "I’m saying get his confidence back up. We need this guy very positive going into the playoffs if you want to win this thing. Batting right now in the 7-hole, nothing is going to happen right now.
"But, right now the guy is struggling mentally. It’s not his physical ability. Mentally right now. He’s looking for two pitches in the same at-bat in every pitch."

personally i think frank is full of shit. batting 7th isn't turning robert into a bad hitter. robert is turning robert into a bad hitter. i'm sure he will overcome this black hole he's in but it will have nothing to do with where he bats.
plus ... i no longer consider him a 5 tool player. he can hit, hit for power, run ... that's 3. as for his fielding, i think it's suspect right now, especially after seeing him misjudge that fly ball so badly. he's made one impressive dive for a ball and several avoidable errors. i don't know about his arm. haven't seen him do anything with it yet.

 

[Jiddy]

Good luck Hurt. If Renteria couldn't figure out to get him up with the big boys over Grandal when he was tearing it up, fat chance he's gonna do it now in a slump. Talk to me in 2021.

 

[Shaggy]

He is a stud. What position in the line was he before the "7th hole"...

 

[Jiddy]

He is a stud. What position in the line was he before the "7th hole"...

He was leading off when TA was hurt...then they moved him down after the return. He shouldn't be in the 7 hole, but he's slumped so hard recently that it's hard to make any argument for him to move up outside of his raw talent should merit it alone. So if you're old school and about "earning it"...It's gonna be a hard sell. Interestingly enough, you'd think a guy like Frank Thomas would appreciate him earning it since he's been around the block...But I guess since Frank was the hero for the Sox from day 1-If he sees similar HOF potential out of Robert, it doesn't surprise he might feel that Robert should be treated similarly because that is what worked for him.

 

[Shaggy]

He was leading off when TA was hurt...then they moved him down after the return. He shouldn't be in the 7 hole, but he's slumped so hard recently that it's hard to make any argument for him to move up outside of his raw talent should merit it alone. So if you're old school and about "earning it"...It's gonna be a hard sell. Interestingly enough, you'd think a guy like Frank Thomas would appreciate him earning it since he's been around the block...But I guess since Frank was the hero for the Sox from day 1-If he sees similar HOF potential out of Robert, it doesn't surprise he might feel that Robert should be treated similarly because that is what worked for him.

I didn't read the whole post above but is Frank pissed at the team for moving him down to the 7th spot and he thinks that's why he is slumping? Everyone goes through a slump year in and year out. Superstar Thomas did the same.

 

[Jiddy]

I didn't read the whole post above but is Frank pissed at the team for moving him down to the 7th spot and he thinks that's why he is slumping? Everyone goes through a slump year in and year out. Superstar Thomas did the same.

Yeah, Hurt thinks Robert would benefit and not be slumping as hard (and he's slumping pretty hard) if he was at the top of the order, basically because he'd see better pitches to hit. I think it's just a diehard Sox fan frustration coming out of the mouth of a what is one of the best hitters in baseball history...sooo, you kind of respect it while taking it with a grain of salt? One of those ol' "Grandma says his heart is in the right place" deals imo.

 

[idseer]

he went into this slump long after he'd been 7th in the order. where he hits in the order has NOTHING to do with his slump.

 

[Jiddy]

he went into this slump long after he'd been 7th in the order. where he hits in the order has NOTHING to do with his slump.

Still a better excuse than Covid legs imo...