Chicago White Sox: With Kopech Up, Is Eloy Jimenez Next?
With Michael Kopech set to make his Major League debut for the Chicago White Sox, we are left to wonder when talented outfielder, Eloy Jimenez, will get his chance.
The Chicago White Sox will send their star pitching prospect, Michael Kopech, to the mound on Tuesday night. With Kopech set to bring his 100+ MPH fastball to the South Side, White Sox fans can now turn their attention and excitement to the possible call-up of the gem of their rebuild, Eloy Jimenez.
Jimenez, a 21-year-old outfielder, is the White Sox top-ranked prospect and Major League Baseball’s third-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com. Since being acquired from the Chicago Cubs in the Jose Quintana trade, Jimenez has continued to get bigger and stronger. Standing at 6’4” and 205 lbs, Jimenez’s body, and talent have earned himself a comparison to the Yankees’ masher, Giancarlo Stanton.
The White Sox young prospect has shown that he can slug like Stanton as well as Jimenez has hit well throughout his 2018 season.
Splitting his season between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte, Jimenez has hit 21 homers, drove in 69 runs and has slashed .326/.374/.580 in 94 games played. This level of production coming from a young body has MLB.com setting a high ceiling for Jimenez with their scouting grades of 60 for his hit tool and 70 for his power.
What truly is impressive about Jimenez is his seamless transition up to the Triple-A level. After hitting 10 home runs and driving in 42 runs while slashing .317/.368/.556 in 53 games at Double-A Birmingham, Jimenez seemingly upped his production by hitting 11 home runs, driving in 27 runs and slashing .338/.382/.611 in only 41 games with Triple-A Charlotte. The increase in talent level did not seem to phase the White Sox praised prospect.
This stellar run at Triple-A has left fans and the baseball world wondering when they would see Eloy Jimenez suiting up for his Major League Debut. Excitement began to build after Director of Player Development, Chris Getz, made a comment to the media that Jimenez was getting very close to being ready for Major League Baseball.
General Manager, Rick Hahn, quickly shot this idea down, according to comments in the Chicago Tribune.
“Everyone at Triple-A is close,” Rick Hahn said Monday. “By definition they’re a level away from being here in the big leagues. There was not any intention of foreshadowing an imminent move with that comment. It was just another statement about him making progress this year and being a level away.”
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It is very reasonable to assume that we could see Eloy Jimenez make his debut for the White Sox in September. Rosters expand on September 1 and the Sox are not in the hunt for the playoffs, why not let Jimenez learn at the big league level?
The answer is service time…
Money makes the decisions in this world and it could keep Eloy Jimenez off the White Sox roster until mid-April of next season. Even though he has shown that he is ready for Major League Baseball, if the White Sox keep Jimenez at Triple-A, then they will earn an extra year out of their future star before he becomes eligible for free agency.
Right now, fans and writers like myself are rolling their eyes because we are eager to see what Eloy Jimenez can do at the Major League level. His raw power and sweet right-handed swing show that he has the talent to be one of Major League Baseball’s next generation of star players.
Next. Kopech to make MLB debut. dark
With prospects like Kopech and Jimenez, fans of the Chicago White Sox should be excited about their teams future. Good times are coming for the South Side Sox.