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Chicago White Sox OF Eloy Jimenez is expected to miss 5-6 months due to a ruptured left pectoral muscle, GM Rick Hahn announced Thursday afternoon. Jimenez was forced to leave Wednesday’s Spring Training game with what was described as a shoulder injury. Jimenez will be out at least until September at the earliest. Maybe he can be back for the postseason, but it seems unlikely he’ll return for the regular season. Opening Day is set for next Thursday on April 1.
The White Sox suffered a major loss in their outfield with Eloy Jimenez now out 5-6 months because of an injury. He was having a solid Spring Training, slashing .319/.360/.532 with two home runs and 11 RBI.
Last season, the young outfielder slashed .296/.332/.559 with 14 home runs and 41 RBI. He was projected to have another tremendous season for a White Sox team that is looked at a dark horse to win the World Series. This season, Baseball Reference had Jimenez hitting .271 with 31 home runs and 88 RBI.
As a rookie, Jimenez burst onto the scene, slugging .267/.315/.513 with 31 home runs and 79 RBI. For his efforts, he finished fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year award voting. The White Sox will try to find a suitable replacement for Jimenez before the regular season begins next week. One player to keep an eye on is top prospect Andrew Vaughn, who has played good in Spring Training. Now granted, he’s a first baseman but White Sox GM Rick Hahn said the team could move Vaughn to the outfield.