White Sox: How Close Is Eloy Jimenez to Reaching The Majors?
White Sox prospect has expressed the desire to join the team out of Spring Training, but how close is the young slugger to appearing in the majors?
The Chicago White Sox have done a good job in being patient with promoting their top prospects over the past year to the majors. However, one prospect, Eloy Jimenez, already has his eyes set on reaching the major leagues later this year.
Jimenez, 21, was acquired last summer in a crosstown trade with the Chicago Cubs for Jose Quintana. After playing a half season in the Sox organization, Jimenez not only is confident about reaching the majors this year but also about how many World Series championships this team can win.
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Although Jimenez has ambitions to make his major league debut this year, just how close is the young slugger to joining the Sox this season? Jimenez hasn’t played above Double-A in his career, and he only appeared in 18 games for the Birmingham Barons last season. The Sox were very patient in promoting top prospects in 2017, and they figure to exercise patience with Jimenez.
With the Sox not having high expectations entering this upcoming season, there’s no need to rush the development of Jimenez. The Sox could be patient, but if Jimenez proves to handle Double-A and Triple-A pitching well, there’s no reason to keep him from getting promoted to the majors.
"“I talked with Zack (Collins) one day in Double-A. I told him, ‘When we figure it out and get together in the big leagues, I know we’re going to be awesome.‘”We’re going to win a lot of World Series’.” Eloy Jimenez"
Jimenez has been a professional baseball player since he was 17 and he’s already appeared in two Futures Games. In 2016, Jimenez appeared in 116 games with Single-A South Bend. He hit .329 that year and impressed last season before being traded to the Sox organization. It’s wise for the Sox to allow Jimenez to develop, but Rick Hahn has gone on record stating good players typically force their way to the majors.
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The Sox have many young outfielders in the minors and majors currently. Jimenez will be one of many outfielders to get promoted to the Sox over the next few years. If there was a prediction to make regarding when Jimenez will arrive to the majors, fans should expect to see him on the South Side shortly after the All-Star break.