White Sox rookie Jimenez named AL Player of the Week

Adjust and improve.

Like most major league rookies, that was Eloy Jimenez's primary goal entering the season.

The White Sox's left fielder overcame a sluggish start and also bounced back from ankle and elbow injuries that sidelined him for 32 games.

With the regular season drawing to a close, Jimenez is finishing with a flourish.

On Monday, the rising 22-year-old was named American League Player of the Week for the period of Sept. 9 to 15.

Jimenez batted .435 (10-for-23) with 1 double, 3 home runs, 11 RBI, 3 walks, 6 runs scored and a 1.370 OPS over a six-game stretch.

Heading into Monday night's game against the Twins, Jimenez was hitting .333/.387/.684 with 5 homers and 15 RBI in September. He was led AL rookies with 27 home runs and was second to Houston's Yordan Alvarez with 69 RBI.

"I think he's responded well as a young man," Sox manager Rick Renteria said.

Jimenez is not a Gold Glove caliber defender, but he's made steady improvement in the outfield and the White Sox aren't even thinking about eventually moving him to designated hitter.

"We want him to be a nine-inning defender," Renteria said. "We want him to be the clutch hitter we need and the guy that ends up ultimately doing a lot of different things, from batting average to driving in runs to hitting balls out of the ballpark. Those are all things he's building toward. I think this has been a great year for him in terms of learning and we hope he continues to do so."