White Sox Q&A: When will Luis Robert get promoted to Triple A? Why aren't the Sox in for Craig Kimbrel or Dallas Keuchel?

The Tribune’s Paul Sullivan answers your questions in his White Sox mailbag.

I agree with the Big Hurt: Luis Robert to Triple A. I watched him in four different games in mid-March. He could play center field with the Sox right now. He needs to face better pitching than he’s seeing right now. He appeared to be vulnerable to off-speed pitches at the plate. There is a bigger problem at Charlotte: it’s clogged up with former major leaguers and career Triple-A players. I am wondering what Dylan Cease is going to learn at Charlotte that he couldn’t learn with the big club. — Jim C.

There doesn’t seem to be any rush in moving up Robert to a level that can better challenge him or promoting Cease to the Sox to learn at the major-league level. The Sox aren’t going to diverge from their plan, no matter how much success those two are having. The Sox rotation has a 6.18 ERA heading into the weekend, the worst in baseball. They certainly could use an injection, but don’t hold your breath.

Greetings from the wine country of Sonoma County. Just curious what the forecast is for the White Sox this season. I would think that they have to get a little better than last year. Any potential to exceed expectations with Yonder Alonso and Eloy Jimenez on the team? To get into the playoffs, most teams need to win around 50 games. — Andrew S., Santa Rosa, Calif.

Maybe lay off the wine if you think 50 wins will get the Sox into the playoffs. The forecast is cloudy with a chance of improvement in 2020.

I’m the same age as Joe West. As a retired professor from an urban American college, I’m accustomed to hearing black students using the N-word toward each other. Likewise, I’m used to hearing it from Latino students and white students. To me, this has become somewhat of a generational issue. Rap music often uses the word. Nonetheless, it is a term I would not use toward another, and I get angry when I hear a white contemporary use it. Many of my peers have and should teach their kids not to use it. But West, working in a diverse environment similar to mine, should have let this slide. If a player used the term in a news conference, it would be a different matter. But in the heat of the moment, this is how many young people react. Adam Jones’ comments on this matter are spot on. — Robert M.

My point was MLB and West should be more transparent about why they ejected Anderson and handed him a one-game suspension. If it was for using the N-word, then just say so. Jones’ point was that black players have used the N-word during the heat of the moment, including himself, and that Anderson was simply venting during a confrontation. He claimed no one said they were “uncomfortable” with the word other than perhaps the umpire. We’ll never know the answer because it’s a closed case. I hoped Anderson would appeal the suspension since it’s worth a discussion, but I understand he wanted to put the episode behind him.

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White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson stretches his neck in the third inning against the Indians at Guaranteed Rate Field on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

Paul, I very much enjoy your work but have to take issue with Billy Martin’s ilk as a possible manager for the White Sox. I’m probably older than you, but I remember pretty clearly Billy Martin single-handedly ruined many pitching staffs, in particular the one in Oakland where every starter’s career was dramatically shortened by overuse. I certainly don’t think Rick Renteria is the long-term answer (the team is still woefully lacking in solid fundamentals) but you have to understand you’re dealing with millennials who would never be able to relate to a brawling, hard-drinking, my-way-or-the-highway type of manager. And like them or not, metrics (to some degree) are here to stay. Billy Martin would throw an Ivy league metric guy right out of the clubhouse! Maybe somebody in between! — Mike K., Lincolnshire

I wasn’t trying to suggest a Bill Martin type was the answer to the Sox, or that Renteria should be let go. I just miss those fiery managers. Martin definitely was a throwback to another era, and maybe the worst example of that kind of manager. But I do appreciate a manager with some fire and someone who can call out his players when they aren’t doing their jobs. It seems as if no players can be yelled at in this day and age without the risk of going on the injured list with hurt feelings.

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I am curious as to why Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada are not batting in the Nos. 2 and 3 spots — they seem to be our best hitters so far this season, are developing into leaders, and I would like to see how their performance would motivate the team. I believe that these two will comprise the best left side of the infield in the American League for the next decade. Cheers. — Tom R.

Agreed they both are off to great starts and that bodes well for the future. But Anderson probably doesn’t walk enough to hit up in the order regularly. He has a .294 OBP in 116 games in the leadoff spot and a .280 OBP in the two-hole. Since he has some power, I’d put him fifth or sixth, where he normally hits. He’s hitting .391 with a .417 OBP in the No. 6 spot this year.

Moncada primarily has been in the No. 2 hole and is doing very well (.362/.431/.741), and obviously most of his power is from the left side. Eventually he will become a No. 3 hitter, but I wouldn’t mess with what’s working. If the Sox had a true leadoff man, such as Nick Madrigal, it would definitely help the lineup.

How about Craig Kimbrel or Dallas Keuchel? I mean, at what point do you flip the switch from rebuild to contention? Yeah, Dylan Cease will be up this year, and Michael Kopech will be back next year, but who knows how they’ll perform? Plus, when has too much good pitching ever been a problem? Kimbrel and Keuchel both could be had for half of what they would’ve paid Manny Machado. — Gregory M.

Frank Thomas basically said the same thing Wednesday night on “Sports Talk Live.” If the Sox signed Kimbrel and Keuchel and brought up Cease, and later Robert, they could actually contend in this very winnable division. But this is not reality, and the Sox aren’t going to spend the money they saved on Machado on either of these two free agents. This homestand against the Tigers and Orioles should be a chance to get close to .500 again, and that’s about the best anyone can ask for at this juncture of the rebuild.

psullivan@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @PWSullivan

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