Eloy Jiménez spent a portion of his Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field, running from the foul line in shallow left field to center.
It wasn’t that long ago that Jiménez had to be removed from a game on a cart after suffering an injury that required surgery to repair a torn hamstring tendon behind his right knee.
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He’s on the road to recovery.
“I started to run a couple of days ago, and that is the main thing right now,” Jiménez said Tuesday. “Other than that, I’m feeling pretty good. We just wanted to make sure I’m good to run and see what happens.”
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Jiménez suffered the injury during the second inning of an April 23 game at Minnesota, stumbling after crossing first base. He said the injury occurred before he touched the base.
“When I went down, I never thought anything bad (like) I could not play (for an extended time like last season),” he said. “I was just a little bit frustrated because I was feeling good. And then that happened. I’m feeling pretty good with the result and hopefully I’ll be back sooner than later.
“The same day (of the April 26 surgery) I was feeling good. I was walking after surgery. Yeah, that was quick. I thought it was going to be longer, but now I feel really good, and we are going to be back sooner than later.”
How soon?
“You can ask that to Rick Hahn,” Jiménez joked. “I’m feeling pretty good, but I don’t know.”
His timetable to return has been an estimated six to eight weeks from when the injury occurred.
“He is a product of the modern-science miracle,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said Thursday. “Several days after the surgery he was walking around without a limp. He’s jogging, he’s swinging. Now what that actually means is, what we don’t want to do is push it ahead X number of days and that would be unwise and then lose him.
“So we’re going to make sure (we) build up all the strength and stamina. But he’s really improving, and it’s exciting we’re going to get him back.”
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For now, Jiménez is focused on running and taking some swings in the cages.
“I’m really happy with that (hitting and running work) because I did not expect I was going to be back that soon,” he said.
The Sox began a four-game series Thursday against the New York Yankees at Guaranteed Rate Field. They faced a dangerous offense that came into the game ranked second in the American League with 40 home runs. The lineup features Aaron Judge (MLB-leading 10 homers), Anthony Rizzo (tied for second with nine) and Giancarlo Stanton (tied for 11th with seven).
The Sox entered Thursday ranked 10th in the AL with 26 homers. They are missing a power source in Jiménez, who has one home run and seven RBIs in 11 games.
“It’s tough every time I’m out,” said Jiménez, who is slashing .222/.256/.333. “And pretty much everybody knows I like to play.
“But when I’m in the dugout, I’m cheering for my team. But I’m feeling like ‘Jesus, I want to play.’ ”
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Jiménez played just 55 games last season after suffering a ruptured left pectoral tendon during a Cactus League game. He slashed .249/.303/.437 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs.
He’s hoping to take lessons from that time away to aid him during this recovery.
“I’m working with (hitting coach) Frank (Menechino) to get my timing back,” Jiménez said. “I know it’s going to be a little bit hard. But we’ll have the opportunity to play every day, so let’s see.”
Whenever he returns, Jiménez isn’t going to be altering those runs to first base.
“I’m not going to stop doing what I think I can do,” Jiménez said. “That’s not going to stop me. I’m going to keep playing hard and that’s it.”
