New No. 5 prospect in baseball Luis Robert wins MVP at Southern League All-Star Game

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Eloy Jimenez deserved every bit of the spotlight Tuesday night for his broken-bat, game-winning homer in the ninth inning on the North Side. But he wasn't the only star of the White Sox rebuild doing big things.

Down in the minors, Luis Robert continued his huge season with MVP honors at the Southern League All-Star Game.

Robert is the newly minted No. 5 prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline's just-updated rankings, and he celebrated by adding a new piece of hardware to his growing collection. He went 2-for-3 in the Southern League All-Star Game with a double, a triple, two RBIs and a run scored. Not bad for a day's work on one of the biggest stages at the Double-A level.

Robert, of course, has just torn up minor league pitching so far in 2019. In 60 games between Class A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham, he's got a .353/.403/.630 slash line, 12 home runs, 44 RBIs, 45 runs scored, 18 doubles and 18 stolen bases. After playing in only 50 games in 2018 while battling various thumb injuries, Robert has obviously shattered the numbers from his first season of pro ball in the United States. And there's still a bunch of baseball left this season.

While the White Sox have been in no rush to move their highly touted prospects along faster than they need to during this rebuilding process, Robert's been so hot at the plate all season, he might warrant another jump before the season's through. As for when fans could see him playing big league games on the South Side, it doesn't seem at all ridiculous at this point to suggest he could be on the Opening Day roster for the 2020 season.

As for those rankings, Robert effectively replaces Jimenez as a top-five prospect for the White Sox. Jimenez graduated from prospect status and provided his biggest moment as a big leaguer Tuesday night against the Cubs, the team that traded him to the White Sox. Now all eyes are on Robert as he continues to move through the system. And he's not alone. The White Sox boast three of the top 18 prospects in the game, per MLB Pipeline's new rankings, with Robert at No. 5, Michael Kopech at No. 16 and Dylan Cease at No. 18. Nick Madrigal isn't too far behind, either, at No. 40.

The future is very bright on the South Side.

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