White Sox slugger Eloy Jiménez frustrated by latest injury, vows to keep working
Chicago White Sox's Eloy Jiménez reacts after grounding out during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in New York. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
CHICAGO — Eloy Jiménez was just starting to feel good at the plate when he got hurt again. That's one of the more frustrating parts for Jiménez and the Chicago White Sox when it comes to slugger's latest injury.
Jiménez strained his left hamstring while scoring from second in the fifth inning of Tuesday night's 5-0 victory at Toronto. He is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks.
“When I was almost scoring, I felt it. I said, ‘Not again.’ That was my reaction," Jiménez said before Saturday's 5-3 loss to Baltimore. "But I said, ‘I’m not going to sit here and be sorry for myself. I’m just going to work hard.’ I know one day I’m going to find the answer to this. This is going to be just a bad dream, a nightmare.”
Jiménez, 27, hit 31 homers and drove in 79 runs in 122 games in 2019, but he hasn't delivered on the potential he showed during his rookie season — in part because of a long list of injuries. He also was sidelined by a left adductor strain in April.
He played in 120 games in 2023, but he also missed time with a left hamstring strain and went on the IL after he had an emergency appendectomy. He was limited to 84 games in 2022 because of a right hamstring injury.
Jiménez hit .321 (9 for 28) with a homer over his last eight games before he was placed on the IL on Wednesday.
“For me, yes, this is a challenge,” he said. “Everything is a challenge. Every time that I go to the IL is a challenge. I’ll come back, and I know I’m going to come back stronger than ever.”
Chicago White Sox's Eloy Jiménez reacts after grounding out during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in New York. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
The last-place White Sox activated rookie third baseman Bryan Ramos from the 10-day IL before their fourth consecutive loss. Outfielder Zack DeLoach was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte to make room on the roster.
Ramos, one of the team's top prospects, had been sidelined by a strained left quad. He was brought up from Double-A Birmingham on May 4 and hit .281 (9 for 32) with two RBIs in his first 10 games with Chicago.
Ramos went 0 for 4 with a strikeout in the loss to Baltimore.
“He'll get a day off here and there and just make sure that we don't work that too hard and hinder his ability to stay on the field,” manager Pedro Grifol said before the game, “and then gradually get him into playing every day.”
Chicago White Sox's Bryan Ramos scores on a sacrifice fly from Braden Shewmake during the fifth inning in the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the Washington Nationals, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Chicago. Credit: AP/Erin Hooley
DeLoach went 0 for 5 in his first three major league games with the White Sox. He was acquired in a February trade with Seattle.
