CHICAGO (670 The Score) – A day after he landed on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain, White Sox outfielder/designated hitter Eloy Jimenez participated in drill work Thursday.
“I feel pretty normal today,” Jimenez said after a workout. “I feel really good. I did some running, and it feels better.”
Jimenez incurred his latest injury while running the bases in the White Sox’s 12-3 loss to the Giants on Monday. This ailment came after Jimenez made it a point of emphasis in the offseason to work on his strength and conditioning, as he redistributed some of his muscle mass. In spring training, he spoke of how his body felt different and more agile.
Despite that, Jimenez is now expected to miss two to three weeks, according to the team.
"I was just running from first to third and felt something in the leg,” Jimenez said. “It hurt a little bit, but right now it feels OK. I felt something, but I don't know how to describe the pain. I tried to stay in the game, but it started to get worse and worse.”
Jimenez is optimistic he’ll be ready to play after 10 days on the injured list, a bit ahead of the team’s announced timeline.
“The last two days, I feel good,” he said. “I feel way better. So I didn't want anything like this to happen, but it's baseball and it is what it is. Well, you know in life, nothing is easy. I didn't expect this to happen, but I will continue to keep working and forget about this moving forward the best I can.”
The White Sox are keeping a positive outlook despite Jimenez’s latest injury.
“I choose to look at it as the glass is halfway full,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “The work that he put in during the offseason allowed him to come in today, two days after the injury, and he is running, he is strong and he is hitting. That is how I look at it. Things like this are going to happen. It's part of the game. It could be the weather or whatever. The glass half-full side of me says, ‘Good job by you in the offseason, great job in the offseason.’ You put yourself in a position to recover quicker from these kinds of injuries. I am extremely optimistic that this will not take long for him.”
Jimenez is hitting .200 (4-of-20) with three RBIs in five games this season. His absence is blow to the White Sox, who are off to a 3-3 start. While Jimenez has been plagued by injuries in his five-year MLB career, he's a powerful bat when healthy, averaging 36 homers per 162 games in his career. Jimenez hasn’t played more than 122 games in any MLB season.
Jimenez admitted his latest injury frustrated him, and he hopes it’s the last one he has to deal with this season.
“I consider myself a positive person, but having to talk about all this stuff has put me not in a good mood,” Jimenez said. "Look, this is your job and it's my job to answer questions. It is what it is, but we are not going to have to talk about injuries any more this year.”
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
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