White Sox designated hitter Eloy Jimenez has been laboring noticeably on the bases.
After he hit a pinch-hit single to left field in the eighth inning of the Sox’ 11-3 win Saturday against the Rockies, manager Pedro Grifol sent in outfielder Corey Julks to pinch-run. The Sox need Jimenez’s bat, but he doesn’t look right on the basepaths as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.
“We measure all this stuff every day, and he gets up between 75 and 83%,” Grifol said. “The thing we are looking at is making sure that instead of doing that in short spurts, we measure it out by feet, too.”
Jimenez’s lack of mobility also showed in the Sox’ 5-3 victory Friday. He scored from third after catcher Korey Lee grounded out, but if Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia had elected to throw home, there was a good chance Jimenez would’ve been out.
If Jimenez is compromised, why is he active?
“Because in past history, even when he’s come back, it’s taken him 10 to 12 days, 10 to 14 days to really get in sync with everything,” Grifol said. “Not just at the plate, but running around, the workload and all that stuff.”
Getting Jimenez up to speed is the Sox’ priority, and they want him to work through his struggles — physically and at the plate — with the big club.
“You can go down [to the minors] and try to get a rehab assignment, but it’s never the same as getting it here in the big leagues,” Grifol said. “The most important thing is, if he feels good at the plate and he’s swinging the bat, he can really help us.”
Soroka starting again?
Reliever Michael Soroka is on a four-game scoreless streak. Since moving to the bullpen May 14, he has pitched 20⅓ innings and has a 3.54 ERA, 35 strikeouts and 14 walks.
Opponents are slashing .200/.333/.307 against Soroka since his move. As a starter, he had a 6.39 ERA.
“Sometimes you need that to remind yourself how good your stuff is,” Grifol said. “And when you start again, don’t worry about pacing yourself. All you’ve got to do is build your work capacity up, maintain your stuff and then go get it and see how far you can go.
“There’s always a possibility of him coming back to starting again, and he’ll probably be better off because he’s been in the pen for some time now.”
Sosa’s struggles
Third baseman Lenyn Sosa has struggled in June, slashing .232/.276/.341. At 24, he’s still young enough to have room to grow.
Sosa got a confidence boost when he hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning off Rockies starter Cal Quantrill.
“Having the opportunity to play every day is good,” Sosa said. “It’s a huge factor in the way you play. Two days ago, I was able to identify something that I needed to adjust, and I think the results are starting to show up.”
Sosa said he has been working on his timing and staying ready for fastballs.