Eloy Jimenez Continues Injury Rehabilitation Ahead of White Sox Return

Eloy Jimenez looks set for an imminent return to the Chicago White Sox. The promising young outfielder has been out of action since suffering a pectoral injury during Spring Training.

Jimenez was expected to have a breakout year this year, but his injury set him back. Although the White Sox have done well in his absence, they will welcome his return for the remainder of the season.

Eloy Jimenez has been one of the top prospects in baseball ever since he was at the Cubs. The Cubs ended up trading him to the White Sox, along with Dylan Crease, for Jose Quintana and prospects Bryan Flete and Matt Rose in 2017.

Quintana ended up not performing as well for the Cubs as he did for the White Sox. His ERA was below 4.00 in every season he played for the White Sox. Since joining the Cubs, it’s been above 4.00 each season.

Jimenez made his debut for the White Sox in 2019. In his first season at the professional level, he proved himself to be worthy of the title of top prospect.

The prospect report from Jimenez labeled his “game power” at 60/70 out of 80. This means that his game power should be 60 out of 80 now but has the potential to be 70 out of 80. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the only one ahead of him in this category at 65/70.

We see how good Guerrero is for the Blue Jays this season, as he is a top contender for AL MVP and the best hitter in baseball. If Jimenez can reach his full potential, he could have a season like Guerrero in his future.

Guerrero did rank better than him in the “Hit” category at 65/70 compared to Eloy’s 50/55. This means that he might not hit for average as well as Guerrero, as he is more of a power hitter than an average hitter, while Guerrero is both.

The White Sox should be very excited about Jimenez’s return as they sit in first place in the AL Central, 8 games ahead of the second-place Indians.

The White Sox sent Jimenez down to Winston-Salem Dash for a rehab assignment on July 9th. He returned to gameplay in style with a home run in his first rehab start.

Jimenez is going to slide right into the starting lineup for the White Sox, who are already second in the league in wRC+ with 110 (Astros in 1st, 112 wRC+).  He should be hitting between the 3 and 5 spots for the White Sox and have tons of RBI opportunities.

Although the White Sox also lost their other top prospect outfielder in Luis Robert to another long-term injury, the replacements have played well. Their collective outfield wRC+ is 9th in the league behind Adam Engel (173 wRC+), Brian Goodwin (137 wRC+), and Andrew Vaughn (112 wRC+).

Luis Robert is a little behind Jimenez in the recovery stage, but they could be one of the best young outfield teammates in the entire league when he gets back.

With the White Sox already being a top offensive team, Jimenez only makes them even better. They have 73 games left this season at the break, which means Jimenez has a great chance at 15-20 home runs and 50-60 RBI.

The White Sox could make for a dangerous team come playoff time.

The White Sox are taking the next step.

The Astros are currently favored to win the American League, but the White Sox are just behind. They are also third favorites to win the World Series and have every chance of going all the way this year.