Eloy Jiménez of the White Sox watches Jon Berti’s three-run home run in the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium on May 19, 2024 in New York City. (Getty Images)
Mike Stobe/Getty
NEW YORK – Make no mistake, Eloy Jimenez has a place with the White Sox.
“He’s our DH,” manager Pedro Grifol said Sunday.
But on Sunday, much to his delight, Jimenez found himself playing right field at Yankee Stadium. Lineup choices against left-handed starter Carlos Rodon being what they were — that’s how Grifol explained it — Jimenez was let out of the house to enjoy a sunny afternoon in the park.
Jimenez hasn’t beaten down Grifol’s office door demanding to play the outfield, but he talked to him about it recently.
“I’ve been working for this moment,” Jimenez said Sunday. “And it’s good to have this opportunity. It’s big to me because I like to play in the outfield. I don’t like to just sit down and and be a DH. Today is a good day.”
It was a good day for Jimenez to collect his third stolen base, too, against former lefty teammate Carlos Rodon. Not known for his speed, Jimenez had no steals prior to this season. He calls his stealing exploits his “surprise” feature of 2024.
In the past, Jimenez has made it known in salty terms that he doesn’t like to DH. His outfield metrics and skills suggest he’s best suited at DH, and he has been injured multiple times while playing the outfield, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it. In his playful manner Sunday, Jimenez darted his eyes from side to side and smiled when asked if he had found a “rhythm” as a DH.
“I’m more in the game [in the outfield],” Jimenez said. “I’m not just sitting down and up to hit. I get to focus more on every part of the game. That’s why I’m excited.”
The Cubs were willing to part with Jimenez along with Dylan Cease when they traded for Jose Quintana in 2017 in part because of Jimenez’ one-dimensional talent. He played left field for the Sox in 114 games in 2019 and DH’d eight times that season. He DH’d once in 2020, but his DH assignments increased each year since, to 18 in 2021, 30 in ’22 and 105 last season.
Five weeks removed from an adductor strain that landed him on the injured list, Jimenez is still looking for a rhythm he seemed to have found during spring training after adjusting his stance in the offseason, a change that was helping him lift the ball.
“I feel good,” said Jimenez, who entered Sunday batting .218/.274/.371 with five homers in 135 plate appearances. “Sometimes not lucky. I’m hitting the ball hard. Taking good at-bats and I think I’m almost there.
“After I came back from the IL, I’ve been a little bit struggling to find that rhythm that I had in spring training.”
Against a lefty starter, Grifol said he wanted Martin Maldonado to catch and to use his other catcher, Korey Lee (.291/.322/.465 ) at DH.
“He’s been shagging, working out there,” Grifol said. “It’s the time to do it. I was going to do it the other day. But we needed to get some more work done out there.
“He’s got really good hands out there. It’s not a matter of him catching the ball or anything like that. It’s a matter of us protecting him. Just been too many injuries that we have to kind of err on the side of caution with that. This is a good park, a smaller right field.”
Jimenez will always hope there is more outfield time, whether it’s with the Sox or his next team. The Sox won’t pick up his $16.5 million club option for next season, so he could be traded before the end of the season — perhaps that’s part of why he played in the field Sunday — but he would have to pick up his offensive production and even at that, the Sox would have to be willing to pick up some of what’s left on his $13.8 million contract for 2024.
“I’m going to keep working and see about what’s in the future,” Jimenez said. “Right now I really don’t like that idea of [being a full-time DH], but it is what it is right now. I’ve got to help the team any way that I can.”