Chicago White Sox: 2022 player grade for Eloy Jimenez
The Chicago White Sox don't have a lot to be proud of when they think of the 2022 season that they had. In a year where they were expected to be division winners with ease, they played awful and only went 81-81. They were by far the most dissapointing team in the league.
One player who wasn't disappointed when they were healthy was Eloy Jimenez. He did have a somewhat long injury which was tough to see again but it didn't hurt his production on the field as much as it did the year before. He also got to play in a few more games.
Jimenez was as good this year with his bat as he's ever been. We also learned that he now has the ability to hit when he's not in the field. That is good news because he is mostly bad at playing the outfield but he is an outstanding hitter.
He slashed a very nice .295/.358/.500 for an OPS of .858. He hit 16 home runs and had 54 RBIs with 40 runs scored. Those numbers are really good for only playing in 84 games but we know he can be both healthier and even more productive.
Final Grade: C
The Chicago White Sox saw Eloy Jimenez get hurt again early in 2022.
Eloy Jimenez gets a C for his season. He was starting to get really hot in the latter portions of the season but it is a problem that he missed a lot of games again. In order for him to really get going and make an impact on a season, he needs to be on the field a lot more often.
He had a WAR of 1.7 which is positive but it could have been much higher if never got hurt. You can't overvalue the ability to get in a rhythm and he wasn't able to do that because of the injury which is heavily impacting his grade.
It is hard to give him a grade that is lower than a C because he was great when he did play. That is even more frustrating knowing that a lack of injury could have really helped the White Sox avoid the season that they had.
If he along with some of his other teammates like Luis Robert and Tim Anderson can come back healthy in 2023, this team might end up being pretty good.