White Sox left fielder Eloy Jiménez ruptured his left pectoral tendon while leaping for a Sean Murphy home run in the second inning of Wednesday’s 14-4 loss to Oakland and will be out for five to six months. Surgery will be needed, per general manager Rick Hahn, who spoke to the media Thursday afternoon.
“He’s dejected and disappointed he won’t be part of this for the near future — for the foreseeable future,” said Hahn, who added that Jiménez is committed to going through everything in his post-surgical rehab and getting healthy as soon as possible.
On the fateful play Wednesday, Jiménez worked his way back to the wall and leapt, but he couldn’t quite corral the long drive. His left arm caught on the wall as he hung from it momentarily. After coming back down, Jiménez stayed on the ground for a bit, then walked off the field holding his left arm.
The 24-year-old is in his third season with the White Sox and is one of the American League’s top players with the bat, but his defense remains a work in progress.
In the 2019 season, Jiménez was out from April 27 to May 19 with a high right ankle sprain after crashing into the left-field wall trying to make a catch against Detroit at Guaranteed Rate Field. He was back on the injured list from July 17-27 with a right ulnar nerve contusion after colliding with Charlie Tilson in Kansas City. He also exited the game on July 26 against Minnesota last year after hitting the outfield wall while bidding to chase down a Jake Cave grand slam and missed the next two games.
But Jiménez has had no such issues at the plate, ranking ninth among AL right-handed hitters with 45 home runs since 2019. With Jiménez out of action, and Adam Engel dealing with a right hamstring strain keeping him out 2 to 4 weeks, the White Sox could turn to Leury García, Billy Hamilton or Nick Williams, who are all players currently in camp. Andrew Vaughn, the team’s top prospect and targeted for the starting designated hitter slot, could be a solution as well, and it was announced he’ll get the start in left field on Friday against the Brewers.
Hahn would not comment on any options outside of the organization.
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