Jimenez brings thunder, joy to White Sox's lineup
You know what everyone could use right about now?
The Eloy smile.
It's always there when he's on the baseball field, whether he's hitting a tape-measure home run or taking a called third strike.
Odds are, even now with major-league baseball on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the White Sox's Eloy Jimenez is smiling somewhere.
"It's who I am," he said. "I don't ever even think about it or try to change my personality. If I did, that wouldn't be me. I try to enjoy everything I do, every day."
As he prepares to eventually play in his second season with the Sox, Jimenez had a lot to enjoy during his first time around.
The 23-year-old left fielder led American League rookies with 31 home runs, 79 RBI and 240 total bases while ranking second with 69 runs scored, 125 hits and 52 extra-base hits.
Jimenez wasn't thrilled about his .267/.315/.513 hitting line and 134 strikeouts in 468 at-bats.
"Last year was tough because it was my first time playing against the best pitchers in the world," he said. "Now I know a little bit more about what they have and what I can do."
Jimenez struggled in the first half of his rookie year, slashing .241/.303/.482 while facing a barrage of sliders and other off-speed pitches.
"I expected it would be like that, but that was hard, really hard," said Jimenez, who was on the injured list from April 27-May 19 with a high ankle sprain. "But at the end, I felt like I was playing for 10 years here."
Jimenez had a big second half, slashing .292/.328/.542 with 15 homers and 41 RBI. He was back on the IL from July 17-27 with a right ulnar nerve contusion.
"Fantastic rookie season," manager Rick Renteria said. "I think the two stints on the IL took some games away from him but he continued to learn, grow, improve, take the experiences he was gaining. He worked extremely hard on both sides of the ball to try to put himself in a good position.
"Still more work to be done, but he certainly has put himself in a position where he can help us win ballgames."
Both of Jimenez's injuries came on defense, and more than a few observers believe he'll eventually wind up at designated hitter.
The Sox believe he'll put in the work to make himself a reliable left fielder, and Jimenez wants no part of being a DH.
"Bleep that," he said with a laugh.
Before camp shut down last week, Jimenez was working on correcting his biggest defensive flaw.
"It was my jump," he said. "My first step sometimes was a little bit lazy. But this year, I'll get better. I've been working on that so it's going to be better."