Eloy Jiménez is a three games into his rehab stint at Charlotte, where there's some evidence of rust in his performance (3-for-11, one walk, five strikeouts), at least relative to what he accomplished the last time he spent serious time there (.355/.399/.597).
Jiménez talked to reporters, including Our Man in Charlotte Jonathan Lee, before Thursday's 11-10 slobberknocker loss to Gwinnett.
We just spoke with Eloy Jimenez about his road back from injury and the plan to rejoin the #whitesox in the near future.@SoxMachine pic.twitter.com/m81vfyCQ0u
— Jonathan Lee (@followmefor3) July 15, 2021
I asked Eloy, when he makes a move in the outfield similar to the one in which he was injured, does he feel discomfort and what is his level of confidence in his left pectoral moving forward.@SoxMachine pic.twitter.com/VDBXnO7yZs
— Jonathan Lee (@followmefor3) July 15, 2021
Hopefully he doesn't make similar outfield moves to test his pectoral, but he's played left field in four of his five games between Charlotte and Winston-Salem, so they're flirting with an encore.
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With his team in first place by eight games as the second half begins, Tony La Russa's return to national headlines is a lot more nuanced than it was in previous episodes, which centered on a hidden second DUI charge and enforcing unwritten rules while not knowing written ones.
Andy McCullough of The Athletic dropped in to write a midseason feature on the experiment, and it's worth your time, primarily for the sense of mutual respect he conveys between the manager and players, whom La Russa gives plenty of room for personal expression.
A few hours before Grandal went down, the White Sox hitters had surged en masse into the dugout just past 3:45 p.m. The group crackled with life, moaning about the 93-degree haze, heaving with laughter. Two things happen to a player upon joining the club, Hendriks says: “Everyone is immediately, one, made fun of, and, two, uplifted.” The team feeds off “our closeness, our mutual respect for each other,” pitcher Lucas Giolito says. To hear most around the team tell it, that culture begins with Abreu and Anderson. As leaders, La Russa says, “they are as good as any we’ve ever had, and we’ve had great ones.” Anderson offers easy instructions to new arrivals: Be you.
“Turn your music on,” Anderson says. “If you’re a guy who wears jewelry, make sure your chain’s popping out. Whatever’s in your comfort zone, we’re going to make sure you do it.”
Lance Lynn, who came up as a rookie, went a little bit too far in chalking up La Russa's stumbles as part of a greater plan:
“Tony’s got this master plan,” Lynn says. “I learned it a long time ago. If everybody is pulling in the same direction, then they’ll play better on the field together. And if that direction is that you’re all mad at Tony, then that works well for him, too. And he doesn’t care, as long as you win.” [...]
As for La Russa’s specific dismissal of his perspective, Lynn says he understood the score. “Tony was at war with everybody else who was upset about it, and taking it all off us,” Lynn says. “He’s been the master of that for years. Always doing it where it’s all on him, and not on the players. And you look at what it’s done: It’s brought us closer together.”
The headline asks whether La Russa is "Legend? Sage? Or out of touch?" The only word I'd quibble with is "or," because he's been all three at various points. I think it's fairer to say that La Russa made a cluster of unforced errors over the first couple months that were more the products of rust and outdated habits than a hidden genius, but his ability to manage friction while maintaining authority remains present, and it's allowed everybody to move past even self-inflicted harm.
PERTINENT: First half tested White Sox's depth in every area but one
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Adam Eaton found a taker, and so the White Sox found a couple hundred thousand dollars of salary relief. The Angels signed Eaton to a major-league contract, so they'll pick up a prorated share of the MLB minimum out of the White Sox's remaining financial obligation. It'll be worth keeping an eye on Eaton the rest of the season just to see if there's any life in his legs, but this signing doesn't automatically reflect hope from Anaheim. The Angels have been rotating utility infielders in their outfield corners, so they could use any warm body with outfield experience.
PERTINENT: White Sox couldn't wait to sign, DFA Adam Eaton
Had the Angels waited a day, they could have considered Nomar Mazara, whom the Tigers designated for assignment this morning. I had less-than-mildly wondered if Mazara's flop of a season with the White Sox could've been attributed to the stop-and-start preseason and the bout of strep throat that interrupted his summer camp. Instead, the Tigers became the most recent team to see their rebound dreams go unfulfilled:
- 2020: .228/.295/.294 over 149 PA
- 2021: .212/.276/.321 over 181 PA
It's probably non-roster invitations for overseas baseball for Mazara from here.
The Angels also might've had the opportunity to trade for Joc Pederson for a second consecutive season, but the Cubs instead sent him to the Braves for A-ball first baseman Bryce Ball, who earned a 40+ FV from FanGraphs before the season. Pederson's hitting .230/.300/.418, and his May production is keeping the season stats tolerable. He does have three two-hit games out of his last four, so perhaps a cold-and-hot season is taking another turn for the better.
(Photo by Laura Wolff / Charlotte Knights)
