Chicago White Sox: Eloy Jimenez needs to play defense

The Chicago White Sox need to keep Eloy Jimenez out there playing left field.

The Chicago White Sox have had a lot of great players throughout their history. Their win-loss record with some of these great players might not be what you would want it to be but there is no doubt some great players have rolled through. As an American League team, some of them have been designated hitters which are hitters that take the place of the pitcher’s spot in the batting order without playing a position defensively.

In fact, the greatest hitter in the history of the franchise was a designated hitter for a very long time. Frank Thomas is one of the greatest hitters ever and the White Sox were lucky to have him. During the mid-90s, it is hard to argue that he was not a top-three hitter in the world. The designated hitter can have a great impact on a team, but that should not be the destiny for Eloy Jimenez.

Jimenez is one of the best young bats this team has ever had. He was about as polished of an MLB hitter in his rookie season as you can be. He came in prepared to be amazing and he didn’t disappoint. His biggest issue is the fact that he is brutal defensively. He plays left field and he isn’t good at it. He can make the routine plays with relative ease but he doesn’t track the ball running very well and that is where he gets himself into trouble.

With this issue in mind, he needs to continue playing defense. In order to be a designated hitter, you need to have the proper mindset and approach to baseball. Jimenez doesn’t seem like the kind of player who has that. He is a happy go lucky guy who enjoys playing every minute of the game. He has stated in the past that he doesn’t want to be a DH in fear that it takes him out of the game.

You never want to see a guy’s production at the plate get worse because he was taken out of the game defensively. Jimenez is too good at hitting to mess with the way that he approaches baseball. The best course of action is to help him improve his play in left field. If he becomes just an average player out there in left, he would be an MVP caliber player for this team. The future is bright for Jimenez and it would be awesome to see him improve his game in the outfield.