It is not just the fans who have had enough of Eloy Jiménez. Ozzie Guillén has as well. During the postgame show a few days ago, Guillén voiced his frustrations regarding comments Jiménez made before the game. For reference, Eloy said he “had to be careful running” because of his injury history. Guillén took exception to that, replying, “Be careful about what, hitting four ground balls every night?” The frustrations with Jiménez have reached a boiling point.
Guillén is not wrong. Jiménez is amid the worst season of his career, and there are no quick fixes for his problems. He has to hit the ball out of the park to be a valuable player, but he has just five home runs in almost 250 plate appearances this season. His 12.6 flyball% is a career low and his offensive numbers are down across the board, which is especially problematic given Jiménez’s role on the roster. He cannot run or play defense, so his bat has to carry him.
On the bright side, Jiménez is still hitting the ball hard. Both his average exit velocity and hard-hit% are in the 89th percentile, which are solid numbers relative to his peers. However, his problem is not the quality of contact. The problem is that he is pounding the ball straight into the ground, hence Guillén’s comments. Eloy’s ground ball percentage is a sky-high 62.3%, which is by far the highest of his career and significantly higher than the MLB average of 44.5%. Hitting the ball on the ground has always been a problem for Eloy, and it is more of an issue than ever. It doesn’t matter how elite a hitter’s exit velocity is if they are hitting grounders as consistently as Jiménez is.
In Eloy’s defense, why he feels he has to be careful running is understandable. Injuries, especially his lower body, have significantly derailed his career. As a result, it is only natural for him to feel hesitant to play 100% with his injury history. His hesitancy to play at his maximum level may be negatively impacting his performance on the field. Some players can take their foot off the gas and still be productive. Byron Buxton of the Twins is an example of that. The problem is that this version of Jiménez is not a productive player. If anything, the 2024 version of him has been a negative. His -0.6 fWAR this season means he is worse than a replacement-level player.
2024 was the most critical season of Jiménez’s career to date, as it was the final guaranteed year of his contract. His 2025 team option meant he would have to perform well this season to justify the White Sox picking it up and keeping him as part of their plans. It certainly has not played out that way. It is a foregone conclusion that the White Sox will pay a $3 million buyout and part ways with him this offseason because of his injury history and poor performance this season.
Eloy Jiménez was supposed to be a superstar and one of the faces of the White Sox competitive window for years to come. That never happened for various reasons in and out of his control. It is a sad ending to what was supposed to be an excellent career for Jiménez on the south side. And if there is one thing you can say definitively about Ozzie Guillén, it is that he is not afraid to speak his mind. He has always been brutally honest. And the brutal, honest truth is that Eloy Jiménez is one of the most disappointing White Sox players in recent memory.
