Sox slugger Jimenez optimistic about making quick return from appendectomy
When Eloy Jimenez woke up in Cincinnati on May 6 with intense abdominal pain, he feared the worst.
"I really thought I was going to die," he said Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The White Sox's designated hitter/right fielder initially figured he had food poisoning, but it turned out to be appendicitis. Jimenez had emergency surgery later in the day.
"As soon as we got to the doctor, they said right away it was appendicitis," Jimenez said. "At the beginning, I didn't even want to have surgery but you know, health comes first before baseball. So it was tough, but now I'm here and I feel good."
Expected to miss 4-6 weeks after having surgery, Jimenez has been running and might be able to start hitting by the end of the week. He would like to come off the injured list and be back in the Sox's lineup on May 26, which would only be three weeks out of surgery.
That is not likely to happen, but manager Pedro Grifol has no problems with Jimenez's optimistic recovery outlook.
"I love that mentality, I really do," Grifol said. "A lot of the rehab is mental, just how fast do you want to go, want to push? At the end of the day, you can't break protocol but the mind is a really good thing when you're in rehab. It can take you many different directions.
"I want him to push, and to the point where we have to back him off. That's what he's doing right now. He wants to get back out there and be a part of this."
Jimenez has been injury prone the last three seasons, and he missed 10 days in April with a strained hamstring.
"You know, sometimes when you start doing good things and something happens, you're not going to feel good about it," said Jimenez, who is hitting .258/.321/.423 with 4 home runs and 15 RBI in 25 games. "But this is life, it is what it is. Just move forward and keep working hard to get back to the lineup and help the team."
Martin out:
Right-handed pitcher Davis Martin, who pitched in 14 games for the White Sox last year, had Tommy John surgery and is out for the season.
Martin was 3-6 with a 4.83 ERA and 9 of his outings with the Sox were starts.
This year, he started 3 games for Class AAA Charlotte and had a 2.81 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 16 innings.
"He came up and did a really good job filling in last year," manager Pedro Grifol said. "He was part of our depth. It's unfortunate for Davis because he had a good year last year and he had a good spring. He impressed me in spring, that was my first time seeing him.
"He'll be back from this, just like others do. He'll continue to do what he does."
Dropping in:
Liam Hendriks is going to be back at Guaranteed Rate Field Thursday or Friday, but he won't be added to the White Sox's active roster.
"We'll sit down and talk about how we'll proceed," manager Pedro Grifol said. "With Liam it's day to day, how he feels, how's your body. There's no blueprint in this. But let me make it clear, there's nothing going on, he's on pace."
Hendriks is on a rehab assignment with Class AAA Charlotte after being ruled cancer free on April 20. The all-star closer began treatments for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in January.