CHICAGO -- The question probably has been asked previously of Luis Robert Jr.

But when a player has as much pure talent as the White Sox center fielder and produces countless highlight-reel moments, things often get repeated: Questions, home runs, spectacular defensive plays. So, after Oakland’s 8-5 victory Thursday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, where Robert Jr. homered during a four-run fifth and took away a homer from Brent Rooker in the fourth, the All-Star was asked which one he preferred.

“It’s better both,” Robert Jr. said in English, after a brief laugh. “Like today.”

There’s plenty of reason for Robert Jr. to smile or laugh, even with his team dropping to 50-78 after being out-homered, 5-3, by the A’s (37-91). There always was five-tool ability on hand, flashed for periods of time, but Robert Jr. has shown that excellence for most of the 2023 season, while staying healthy in the process.

One noticeable area of improvement has been his playing the baseball at the wall. Even in 2020, when Robert Jr. won a Gold Glove, there were often awkward encounters when chasing balls in that direction. With the help of Daryl Boston, the White Sox first-base and outfield coach, they are now moments Robert Jr. is able to anticipate.

“In 2020, I was just running behind the ball and sometimes I crashed against the wall,” Robert Jr. said through interpreter Billy Russo. “I wasn’t paying too much attention to the wall. Now I’m more aware of where the wall is, I’m able on those plays to jump and kind of soften the crash a little bit. I’ve been thinking ahead of that possibility.”

“He’s an incredible player and that doesn’t get taken for granted on this team in the slightest,” said White Sox starting pitcher Jesse Scholtens, who allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings and struck out four Thursday. “What he does for this team is unparalleled.”

Taking away the home run from Rooker involved hang time worthy of at least an NBA look. Robert Jr. is a good enough athlete where, if he had a pretty good outside shot, he’d have an outside shot to succeed. But the White Sox center fielder played it down as part of the process.

On home run No. 34, coming off Ken Waldichuk with two outs, Robert Jr. launched a 444-foot blast with a 104.9 mph exit velocity, according to Statcast. His 13 two-out homers lead the American League, and with six more homers, he becomes the eighth White Sox player to hit at least 40 in one season.

“I know he’s still chasing some, but not that much. And he’s understanding what pitches and what parts of the zone he can do damage on,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “The interesting thing with him is that he’ll hammer breaking balls, he’ll hammer changeups and fastballs if they’re in the zone.

“So he really doesn’t have a weakness on any pitch that’s in the strike zone. And he’s starting to really recognize that. Now the work needs to continue to be put in to keep him in the strike zone. If he can continue to improve this, he can be even more dangerous than he is right now.”

More dangerous than a player with light-tower power who, per Chris Kamka of NBC Sports Chicago, robbed a homer and hit a homer in the same game for the second time this season (April 3 vs. Giants)? That sort of overall production should lead the White Sox in their next wave of contention.

“He’s got really good work ethic,” Grifol said. “I saw it in the spring and I was like, ‘OK, maybe this is the spring. He’s getting after it in the spring.’ He gets after it every single day. He had that one little hiccup down the line early on in the year, and he’s never had it again.

“He has that determination to be great. And he does things with ease and there’s not much effort to it.”