Opening day for the Chicago White Sox and the rest of baseball is right around the corner. The winter is officially over and the weather is starting to get consistently nice. As a fan of this White Sox team, you can feel the excitement in the air.
It’s been a long offseason which had a little more drama than some would like to admit but baseball is about to be back in a big way on the southside. The Sox, for the first time in quite a while, is going to have some expectations to meet this year.
The days of playing for the future are over and it is now time for the present. This White Sox team is currently loaded with star power from top to bottom. They have a very good mix of veterans and young guys so fans are looking for some of these younger players to break out.
The Sox have quite a few guys who have made all-star games on the roster. To be fair, most of these guys made the all-star game while playing for another team but that’s not what we’re looking at today. This is looking at three first-time all-stars so let’s start out with number one.
Player #1: Eloy Jimenez
Eloy Jimenez is looking to make the first all-star game of his young White Sox career
Eloy Jimenez is without a doubt a fantastic piece of this Sox team. He has some truly elite skills at the plate and will only get better as time goes on. That being said, he is the least likely to make an all-star game this year because of his defense.
It’s no secret that the defense that Jimenez provides in the outfield is brutal. He doesn’t run very well and his field awareness is atrocious. For him to make the all-star team this season, he would need to really light up at the plate and he would need to at least be competent in the outfield.
The former is absolutely a possibility as Jimenez can easily be a 40 home run hitter with a ceiling of hitting around 50. It may be tough to make the team this upcoming season but he certainly has a chance.