GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Imagine being a corner outfielder for the White Sox, camped under a routine fly ball, when suddenly a blur comes flying past to basically grab the baseball from your glove.

That blur is Luis Robert, who at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds is built like an NFL defensive back with the elite speed of a deep-threat wide receiver. Robert also turned his seemingly left-field-line to right-field-line range into an American League Gold Glove Award as a rookie in 2020.

¡°Playing with Luis Robert is really fun,¡± said White Sox left fielder Eloy Jiménez. ¡°Sometimes [it¡¯s not], because he tries to catch every ball. I'm just kidding. When he won the Gold Glove, I was so happy.¡±

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¡°I think the Gold Glove is an award I share with all my teammates, especially with all the outfielders,¡± said Robert through interpreter Billy Russo. ¡°They helped me to win that award.¡±

Robert said that help came from information provided on how to play the different stadiums because not all outfields are the same. The contribution in Jim¨¦nez¡¯s mind played out a little differently, as the upbeat White Sox fielder shared a story of calling Robert after he won the Gold Glove and telling him, ¡°You owe me¡± with some of those Robert putouts potentially belonging to Jim¨¦nez.

In reality, Robert is just following instructions. If Robert is Kelly Leak from the iconic baseball movie "The Bad News Bears," then it¡¯s Daryl Boston -- the team¡¯s first-base coach who also works with the outfielders -- who is playing the part of manager Morris Buttermaker and telling Robert to go after everything.

¡°That¡¯s what we are going to start calling [Robert]. That¡¯s what [former Chicago outfielder Nicky] Delmonico used to call him,¡± said Boston of the Kelly Leak reference. ¡°One of my things that I always talk to him about is he needs to take charge. Every ball should be expected to be your ball.

¡°So, he said, ¡®Debo, you say every ball is my ball.¡¯ I said, ¡®OK, but let the other kids play. Please.¡¯ Make sure you let somebody else play.¡±

Robert's 10 outs above average ranked No. 1 in the Major Leagues among outfielders in 2020, according to Statcast. His average sprint speed of 29.1 feet/second falls just shy of the elite 30 ft./sec. threshold but places him in the 96th percentile.

Surprisingly, the Savant illustrator that shows the plays Robert made doesn¡¯t run from line to line. Robert covered balls coming in and balls going back, not to mention a strong representation in both gaps, and it¡¯s not by chance.

This skillset is something Robert works on before games and during the action.

¡°He¡¯s like that in batting practice. He just goes from one gap to another. That¡¯s what he wants to do, just track balls down,¡± Boston said. ¡°Just instincts and his range is second to none. He just jumps off the ball. There have been plenty of balls hit where I thought, ¡®I ain¡¯t got nobody there,¡¯ and he hauls it down.¡±

¡°Luis is special,¡± said White Sox outfielder Adam Engel, a Gold Glove Award finalist. ¡°It was like something every day saying, ¡®This guy is incredible.' This guy is one of the most talented players physically but also mentally. He's got an incredible work ethic.¡±

Engel pointed to a spectacular ninth-inning play made by Robert during a 5-3 victory at Kansas City on Sept. 5, 2020, where Robert took extra bases away from Maikel Franco with a running, diving catch in the right-center gap. Engel was standing 15-to-20 feet away in right and made an audible noise as he saw it unfold.

¡°And that's the kind of stuff you see with [Robert] every day,¡± Engel said.

¡°He enjoys defense,¡± Boston said. ¡°He enjoys playing the outfield.¡±

All of the hoopla around Robert is deserved but certainly doesn¡¯t represent defensive perfection. As an example, learning to better play batted balls at the wall is something Robert will focus on this spring.

¡°I¡¯m not sure what happens. He gets there and you slow it down on video and he looks like he¡¯s about to make a play. And somewhere along the way, he just mistimes it,¡± Boston said. ¡°He knows he needs work. He¡¯s got a Gold Glove and he wants more.¡±

It¡¯s a small adjustment to be made, especially for a player looking as though he¡¯s trying to cover three outfield spots at once.