Jimenez trying to stay afloat during stormy early go with White Sox

It's still too way early in the game to judge Eloy Jimenez.

Expected to be a future anchor in the middle of the Chicago White Sox's lineup, the rookie has mainly been in sink mode during his first two months in the major leagues.

The poor results are not surprising.

In addition to learning how to adjust his aggressive swing against the best pitching in the world, Jimenez missed three games in late April after being placed on the Bereavement List.

In his first game back, the 22-year-old left fielder sprained his right ankle trying to make a catch at the fence. That sidelined Jimenez for 21 more games, and he is 4-for-29 (.138) since returning to the Sox's lineup at Houston last Monday.

Jimenez was 0-for-2 against the Royals Monday afternoon before play was suspended with two outs in the fifth inning following a second rain delay.

The White Sox and Kansas City were tied at 1. The game will resume at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday followed by the regularly scheduled game, which will begin approximately 30-40 minutes after the conclusion of the suspended game but no sooner than 6:40 p.m.

Overall, Jimenez is batting .213 with 36 strikeouts in 108 at-bats.

"I think there's no doubt he'll have success as a major-league hitter, and I mean that," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "No doubt in my mind that he's going to hit here. I think the time and every at-bat he has will help."

With 6 home runs in only 28 games, Jimenez has shown flashes of the power that made his one of baseball's top prospects the past few years.

But a lack of contact has been a big problem, and Jimenez is often an easy out while swinging wildly at sliders, changeups and curveballs well outside of the strike zone.

"Some of these kids will see some good pitching in the minor leagues," Renteria said. "You'll see guys with good action on the breaking ball, good life on the fastball, sequencing that makes you work in the box. Once they get here, you'll see that on a more consistent basis.

"Pitch recognition is big, as is the experience they get here at the major-league level as they start to watch these guys that are major-league pitchers using all their secondary pitches effectively."

Another probable cause for Jimenez's slow start at the plate? The weather has been miserable, and Monday was just another in a long list of rain, cold and snow.

"For everybody," Renteria said. "Nobody plans it. Mother nature is mother nature. She picked up steam. You kind of hope you can control the forecast, but it is what it is. Everybody did the best they could to try to get this in."