White Sox need to reconsider left field with or without Eloy Jiménez

At this point, the extent of Eloy Jiménez's shoulder injury is unclear. What's not unclear? The problem looming over the White Sox if Jiménez has to miss any significant amount of time.

It'd be pretty bad! Especially when an injury in the other corner is already requiring the White Sox to use all their resources to find adequacy.

If you missed it, Jiménez hurt his shoulder making an awkward attempt at a home-run robbery in left field on Wednesday. He leapt at the wall with his glove extended, then hooked that arm over the fence as gravity did its thing with the rest of him.

He departed the game with what the White Sox called "left shoulder discomfort," and they'll provide an update today. In between, Lance Lynn said he saw Jiménez in the training room and told reporters the outfielder appeared to be "in good spirits," for what that's worth.

Some might consider it premature to ponder how the White Sox would proceed in the face of a prolonged Jiménez absence. I'd argue it's worthwhile even if the White Sox provide an update before I finish this post. Having your life flash before your eyes should be a cause to reconsider some choices.

One's completely out the door this time around. The White Sox could have insulated themselves against this kind of misfortune by signing a bat that would relegate Andrew Vaughn to waiting his turn, which isn't that sharp of an insult when incidents like these allow his turn to happen. The Sox let a rare opportunity to have more bats than spots pass them by, and this is one way a refusal to capitalize reveals itself. Unless Yoenis Céspedes is somehow an option -- and there hasn't been much said about him since his showcase weeks ago -- there's not much that can be done here.

From there, we move on to Jiménez's defense in left field, and what's to be done with that. In January, I wrote about the tension between Jiménez's physical capabilities of making difficult plays, and the finer movements that could forever elude him. I came to the counterintuitive conclusion that the Sox might be in a better situation if Jiménez were worse in left field, because at least they wouldn't have to wrestle with the future.

Like Jiménez on a hard-hit line drive, the White Sox are stuck in between. Take the issue with Jiménez's first steps putting relatively routine plays in jeopardy. Last weekend, Scott Merkin talked to Jiménez and Daryl Boston about the topic, and the Sox personnel interviewed treated it like a physical shortcoming:

It's possible that's the root cause, because Jiménez wasn't always this rough. His frame filled out over the course of his minor league ascension, and maybe the added bulk exacerbated the natural inefficiencies in his movements. Once it became abundantly clear that reps alone weren't closing the gap, the Sox shifted to a more hands-on approach.

But phrases like "finer movements that elude him" and "natural inefficiencies" are a gentler way of saying "clumsy," and that's a lot harder to solve. Maybe the Sox can reshape his body into something that accelerates and handles corners better. Maybe they'd have better luck asking him to land a triple lutz.

Unless the Sox grow a willingness to try infielders in the outfield, they're kinda stuck with Jiménez in left, and the Nick Williamses of the world when Jiménez isn't available. At least Tony La Russa has a little experience in generating options out of nowhere. During his last year with the Cardinals, one of his finest moves was turning Allen Craig, who had fumbled his way out of a corner-infield job in the minors, into a valuable utility man during his first full season in the majors. Craig appeared at six positions and hit .315/.362/.555 in 75 games around a knee injury, capping off his season with three homers in the World Series.

Then again, the Cardinals helped him by transitioning Craig to outfield work in the minors the year before. The Sox have experimented with Vaughn playing other positions than first, but they haven't committed to it. Gavin Sheets is the better comp for a focused effort on expanding utility, but he wasn't even involved at the alternate training site last year, and he looked rusty in the spring.

This uneasiness will remain until a better option reveals itself at the alternate training site or the minor leagues. I don't think Jiménez will be able to meet everybody halfway by gearing down his efforts, because he's a young athlete trying to prove himself. How many walls did Adam Eaton run into at the same point in his career before he calibrated useful hustle? Jiménez has that problem, except worse, because he's more likely to make a mess of realistic plays, too. He can't be expected to try less on those, what with it being a team game and all.

What's left is a fragile state, and one worth reconsidering when the opportunity for greater stability next arises. Everybody's just going to hold their breath for the time being. First up: waiting for the injury update. If Jiménez is able to take the field in short order, then we'll be back to doing it during mildly challenging drives hit his way. Just try not to pass out.

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POSTSCRIPT

Some good news: It appears as though the White Sox will have another prospect to consider after the season.

The White Sox had been tied to Oscar Colás throughout the process, which had been complicated by the shifting international signing dates. Instead of settling for less money from teams with committed budgets, Colás chose to wait for a bigger lump sum at the next signing period. If Romero's figures are right, he'll get $1 million more for waiting.