Rick Hahn on Eloy Jimenez White Sox - New Style Motorsport

CHICAGO — White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez underwent a surgical procedure to repair a torn hamstring behind his right knee Tuesday morning at Rush Oak Brook Surgery Center. The estimated outlook for his return remains six to eight weeks, based on comments made by general manager Rick Hahn three hours before a home game against the Royals.

Jimenez suffered what was originally called a right hamstring strain during the second inning of Saturday’s loss to the Twins while running hard from the batter’s box to beat an infield grounder to third in the second inning.

If this particular procedure sounds familiar, it’s because catcher Yasmani Grandal did the same last season, and right-hander Lance Lynn went through a similar process before the start of the 2022 season. Hahn feels confident in that projection. six to eight weeks with the history of these injuries, barring possible setbacks.

The injury marks a long absence for Jiménez in consecutive seasons. He had a ruptured left pectoral tendon surgically repaired in 2021 after making an ill-advised attempt to steal a home run that he hit well over the fence at Camelback Ranch during spring training, returning on July 26.

Hahn understands there’s a certain level of depression that sets in for any player dealing with a season-altering setback, something Jimenez discussed last year about his time out, but he’s not worried about Jimenez with the 25-year-old’s knowledge. years. tremendous makeup.

Hahn wasn’t happy that Jimenez was characterized as injury-prone, which he learned sometime before Tuesday’s news session. He referred to such a statement as “lazy analysis.”

“Couldn’t be further from the truth in terms of the fact that he’s missing significant time this year and last year, even then he can be called injury prone,” Hahn said. “He made a bad call last year trying to make a play. This year, trying to get to a level that he barely accessed all year, he’s more of a guy trying to do whatever he can to help his team win, even if it might not be the right decision at the time. .

“That’s not an injury-prone guy. That’s just a nickname that, again, people try to tarnish a guy’s ability with an unfair label to put someone like that on. Whether they’re spouting things that others told them, it’s just unfair.”

A portion of Hahn’s 19-minute conversation was devoted to updating other recovering White Sox players, but he also discussed the team’s seven-game losing streak going into this seven-game homestand. He admitted his concern, frustration and disappointment with the team’s drop from 6-2 to 6-9, but was also able to keep perspective on a very bad week.

“We still believe a lot in the talent on this team,” Hahn said. “We believe in the positive side of this team and we are confident that over time the talent will prevail and take us to the level that we aspire to be, that we intended to be at the start of this season.”

When Hahn spoke to the media before the home opener on April 12, he pointed to the expectation of tough times during the first six to eight weeks for all teams after the rapid acceleration of spring training. That road has been a little better than the White Sox would have liked, as Hahn bolstered his opening points at home on Tuesday.

“It’s not entirely unexpected that there were going to be health challenges for everyone in baseball,” Hahn said. “Secondly, you heard me say that I don’t think any of these injury issues this early should be assigned to any one person who fails by any individual or organization member: player, staff or others. We’re asking a lot of these guys after a short period of time in a once again unique offseason where some of these things are going to happen.

“We want to do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again, and we will continue to adjust our programs and look for ways to improve. But it is unfair to attribute this to an individual player or a member of the coaching staff.”

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