{"id":19233,"date":"2019-04-28T23:40:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T03:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/?p=19233"},"modified":"2019-04-29T10:37:22","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T14:37:22","slug":"rough-weeks-eloy-jimenez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2019\/04\/28\/rough-weeks-eloy-jimenez\/","title":{"rendered":"Rough Few Weeks for Eloy Jimenez of the Chicago White Sox"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes you’ve got to go back to actually move forward. Hopefully that will be the case for Chicago White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez<\/a>, who has had a rough few weeks recently. Off the field, his grandmother passed away, and he just recently returned from the Dominican Republic. On the field, he is in a slump, hitting 4 for 23 in his last six games<\/a>. Sometimes as fans we forget that these professional athletes are humans too. In an interview with MLB.com’s<\/a> Scott Merkin last month, Merkin asked Jimenez how he stays upbeat all the time. Jimenez replied, “My family. If I talk to my family and I know they are good, I\u2019m always happy.\u201d It\u2019s hard not to root for a guy like that. Hopefully, he will be able to focus more mentally in the upcoming weeks.<\/p>\n

Rough Few Weeks for Eloy Jimenez<\/a><\/h2>\n

Adding to the list of turmoil for Jimenez and the White Sox is a high ankle sprain for the rookie outfielder. He was added to the 10-day injured list with that injury on Sunday. The play that led to the injury is every outfielder’s worst nightmare — running into the wall awkwardly. Detroit catcher Grayson Greiner<\/a> hit a home run to left field. While Jimenez was running for the ball<\/a>, he got his leg caught up in the left field fence. Early reports<\/a> are that Jimenez will miss at least two weeks and be re-evaluated then.<\/p>\n

Moving Forward<\/h2>\n

Injuries to a team’s best players are part of the game, but it doesn’t come without some shifting around. Relievers Aaron Bummer<\/a> and Thyago Viera will get the call up from the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. Jose Rodon\u00a0will make his first start in the outfield<\/a>, moving from second base to left field. White Sox manager Rick Renteria<\/a> said<\/a>, “We worked with (Rondon) a lot in the spring, in specific for the possibility of something like this occurring.” However, Rodon’s transition to the outfield will most likely not be permanent. Yolmer Sanchez<\/a> will play second base for the Sox now instead of Rodon.<\/p>\n

Jimenez is a major piece of the White Sox rebuilding process.\u00a0He’s slashing<\/a> .241\/.294\/.380 in 21\u00a0games this season. The best way to improve for him is simply to get more reps. Hopefully, this will be a minor setback for a major comeback for the talented young outfielder. As Matthew McConaughey once so eloquently said, “Sometimes you gotta go back to actually move forward.”<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>