Jimenez trying to learn, improve from defensive miscues
In the White Sox's loss to Milwaukee Thursday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, slumping Brewers star Christian Yelich came to the plate with one out in the fifth inning having just 3 hits in 34 at-bats.
"It's been an absolute zoo," said Yelich, the National League MVP in 2108 and runner-up last year. "I've been awful all year."
The trend appeared to continue when Yelich hit a fairly routine fly ball to left field, but that quickly changed after he rounded the bases and touched home plate.
"Probably the luckiest home run in baseball history, definitely top three," Yelich said.
And probably one of the worst defensive plays you'll see as well.
Instead of making the catch and preserving the Sox's 2-1 lead, Eloy Jimenez botched the play and fell into the stands. He also got tangled up in the protective netting, looking like a spawning salmon during an Alaskan fishing season.
Making matters worse, the Brewers tacked on 3 more runs in the inning and went on to win 8-3.
The catch that wasn't quickly spread on multiple media platforms, and Jimenez is again hearing how he's going to end up at designated hitter due to his defensive shortcomings.
"It bothers me a little bit," Jimenez said on Friday when asked about the criticism. "But it's part of this. It's part of baseball. I'm just trying to be the best I can for my team. It's going to happen.
"Great players have bad days, so for me, I'm just learning from that and just forget about it and keep moving forward."
Already a great young power hitter, Jimenez does make most of the defensive plays he's supposed to. But he also runs into fences and teammates more often than he should.
In a July 26 game against the Twins, Jimenez had to leave the game after banging into the wall and hitting his head. Last season, Jimenez injured his ankle and elbow in two separate plays on defense.
White Sox manager Rick Renteria is always quick to defend Jimenez's defense, and he is standing up again for his 23-year-old outfielder.
"I wish there was a lot more said about some of the nice plays he makes that is never talked about, to be honest," Renteria said. "I notice them and see the routes and I see the catches and nobody really talks about those things. In regard to how he's dealing with it, I think he's dealing with it fine. He continues to work. Again, everybody makes mistakes. Even the best make mistakes."
Renteria also said it's still too early to project Jimenez as a left fielder down the road, even though he feels it is very likely.
"That's the expectation," the Sox's manager said. "All of us understanding what these guys are capable of doing or not doing, we have a window of time and I'm not going to give you what that window of time is. But we have a certain amount of time we can give these guys a look to see how they continue to progress.
"Sometimes we make decisions a little prematurely on individuals. At the end, I think you've got to trust the people that are working with them and alongside of them and continue to encourage them. I could be wrong. I'm not perfect. I'm expecting that over time Eloy will fall into a good category on the defensive side and if it doesn't, we'll find ways to continue to augment his playing time out there."