White Sox top prospect headed back to Dominican Winter Leagues as he continues to work on being ready for promotion to the Majors in 2019.
Eloy Jimenez didn’t get his chance to show he was ready for the major leagues this past September after an impressive season in the minors. The 22-year-old slugging outfielder will have to wait until next year.
Jimenez, however, will see some playing time over the Winter as the Gigantes del Cibao of the Dominican Winter League added him to their roster for the upcoming season. There were some Sox fans who weren’t thrilled that Jimenez wasn’t called up in September as he showed he didn’t have much to learn by continuing to play in the minors.
Sox general manager Rick Hahn stated Jimenez still needed to work on his outfield defense. According to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, Jimenez will play in the outfield and have some stints as a designated hitter in the Dominican Winter League. This past season, Jimenez hit a combined .337/.384/.577 with a .961 OPS, 22 home runs and 75 RBI’s with Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte.
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In 55 games with the Knights, Jimenez owned a .355 batting average to go along with a .996 OPS. The arrival of Jimenez next season to the Sox should be a welcome sight for fans of the current rebuild. Jimenez has been in the minors since 2014.
With Jimenez playing in the Dominican Winter League, he will get more chances to work on his outfield defense while staying sharp offensively. Sox fans have been anticipating seeing Jimenez in the Majors since the beginning of this past season. While the Sox front office didn’t rush to promote him, it will be hard for the franchise to hold Jimenez back any longer in 2019.
Sox fans shouldn’t expect Jimenez to be in the minors for a long time if at all next season. Jimenez appears ready for the next step and playing time in the Dominican Winter League could help him improve his outfield defense. 2019 can’t get here soon enough as Jimenez has a chance to make an immediate impact with the Sox.