Luis Robert promoted to Birmingham
Zack Burdi will join Robert in Birmingham, and Steele Walker earns a promotion to Winston-Salem
Luis Robert is being rewarded for tearing the cover off the ball with the Winston-Salem Dash this season, as he is moving up to Class AA Birmingham. After fighting off injuries for much of his time in the organization, Robert is off to a flaming hot start, as his slash line sits at a crazy .453/.512/.920 after 84 plate appearances. MLB Pipeline ranks Robert fourth among White Sox prospects, eighth among all outfield prospects, and 37th among all prospects. This will be the 21-year old outfielder’s first experience above Class A+, and he appears to be more than ready for the challenge.
Zack Burdi also earned a promotion to Class AA Birmingham. Burdi was sidelined for much of 2018 due to Tommy John surgery the previous year. He has not gotten many innings lately as a result. He pitched 6 1⁄3 innings and allowed two earned runs in the Arizona League last year. In his rehab assignment in Class A Kannapolis, he pitched three innings and allowed three earned runs, though that is a tiny sample size, and his advanced peripherals showed that he was quite unlucky in those innings (0.63 FIP, 1.35 xFIP). The 24-year old right-hander was the second of two 2016 White Sox first round picks. MLB Pipeline ranks him 16th among White Sox prospects. Before Tommy John surgery, Burdi got a decent amount of experience in Class AAA, with 33 1⁄3 innings there in 2017 (4.05 ERA, 2.86 FIP, and 2.92 xFIP).
Steele Walker is the last of the latest promotions, as he moves up from Class A Kannapolis to Class A+ Winston-Salem. The White Sox’ 2018 second round pick has been cruising right along with Kannapolis, slashing .365/.437/.581 in 87 plate appearances this year. That is not quite a Luis Robert slash line, but he is not too far from that. According to MLB Pipeline, Walker is the White Sox’ #11 prospect.