Chicago White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez said he is making progress in his recovery from a torn hamstring.
The Dominican indicated Tuesday that he is progressing faster than expected, is not in pain and has been running and hitting.
“We will be back sooner rather than later,” he said.
The White Sox hope Jimenez will make a full recovery after missing nearly all of last season with a torn left pectoral tendon. He got off to a slow start with just eight hits in 36 at-bats before getting injured trying to reach base on a groundout at Minnesota on April 23.
The 23-year-old slugger felt the injury while running to first base. He reached for the bag, fell and was helped out on a stretcher. He had surgery days later and the Red Sox indicated he would be out six to eight weeks.
The injury is similar to the one suffered by Cuban White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal that sidelined him for nearly two weeks last season. Right-hander Lance Lynn is also on the disabled list with a similar problem after he left his last exhibition game as a starter with a sore right knee.
“When I fell… I was a little bit frustrated because I wasn’t feeling well,” Jiménez acknowledged. “And then that happened. Now I feel good with the result we have”.
Jiménez hit 31 home runs as a rookie in 2019. He hit .296 and 14 homers in 55 games during the 2020 season, shortened due to the pandemic. He was limited to 55 games last year after he injured him while he was trying to prevent a home run during a spring training game.