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1:05 p.m .: White Sox general manager Rick Hahn announced that Jimenez suffered a ruptured left pectoral tendon and would require surgery. He is indeed expected to miss five to six months of action, putting his entire season in jeopardy.
12:55 p.m .: White Sox Left Thief Eloy Jimenez left the Cactus League game yesterday with an apparent injury to his left arm after attempting to steal a home run, and it looks like the Sox suffered a heavy blow even before the season started. Dan Bernstein of 670 The Score tweets that it is a “serious” injury that will cost Jimenez considerable time, and Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM tweets that Jimenez suffered a torn pectoral muscle that could sideline him for five to six months.
An absence of any length for Jimenez would be a blow to the White Sox’s chances, but losing Jimenez for the majority of the season is a particularly categorical punch for the South Siders. Jimenez, 24, scored 31 home runs as a rookie in 2019 and improved his rate stats in 2020, slicing .296 / .332 / .559 with 14 dingers and 14 doubles in just 226 trips to plate. He was also on a tear this spring, hitting .319 / .360 / .532 with two homers, two doubles and a triple in 50 home plate appearances.
The injury is particularly important for the Sox due to the lack of experienced substitutes at camp. Utility Leury Garcia has field experience, but seems unlikely to be in a rush in a daily role, and the best options on the 40-man roster – Blake rutherford, Micker adolfo, Luis Gonzalez – have yet to play in the Majors beyond two Stray Plate appearances for Gonzalez. The Sox have Billy Hamilton and Nick williams on minor league deals, but neither touched much in their recent sample of big-league work.
Meanwhile, Hahn called the concept of the recently signed prospect Yoelki Cespedes (Yoenis’ younger brother) jumping straight into the big leagues “premature” (Twitter link via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). The general manager also suggested the club get an alleged designated hitter Andrew Vaughn some work in left field as the Sox assess internal options (Twitter link via Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune). Vaughn already looks likely to be pushed into the Majors after hopping both Double-A and Triple-A, and tackling left field would present another challenge given his history as a first baseman. Speculatively, this appears to be a case where the solution lies outside the organization.
The White Sox are expected to consider several options in the league in the coming days, as the veterans retire from minor league contracts with other teams. Jay bruce just has such a clause in his contract with the Yankees, for example, and it’s not a lock to make the club. New York also has the options Mike Tauchman, which has attracted commercial interest from no less than eight teams. The Reds face a similar dilemma with Slugger Aristides Aquino. Unsigned options in the free agent market include Josh reddick, Yoenis cespedes and Yasiel Puig.
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