Eloy Jimenez made an impactful return to the Chicago White Sox lineup Wednesday, homering in his first game in over two months.
Jimenez was activated from the 60-day injured list before the afternoon finale of Chicago’s three-game series against the Minnesota Twins and started in left field. It marked his first game with the White Sox since April 23, when he suffered a right hamstring strain while running to first base.
After striking out in his first at-bat Wednesday, Jimenez blasted a towering two-run homer in the fourth inning that just snuck around the left-field foul pole, tying the score at 3-3. It was the second homer of the season for Jimenez and his first since April 17.
Jimenez tied the game again in the seventh inning with a two-out RBI single that evened the score at 6-6.
Jimenez’s productive return to the lineup was offset, however, by an injury to White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada, who left the game after fouling a ball off his right foot in the sixth. The team announced that X-rays were negative and diagnosed Moncada with a right foot contusion.
After belting 31 home runs as a rookie and then homering 14 times in just 55 games during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Jimenez has been plagued by injuries over the past two seasons, appearing in just 66 total games since the start of the 2021 season.
Jimenez, 25, batted .222 in 11 games with the White Sox before suffering the hamstring injury in April and eventually undergoing surgery. He batted .246 with two homers in 57 at-bats during his recent rehab stint at Triple-A Charlotte.
The White Sox announced Jimenez’s return amid a flurry of roster moves before their game against the first-place Twins. Chicago also recalled right-hander Jimmy Lambert from Charlotte, placed infielder Jake Burger (hand) and right-hander Vince Velasquez (blister) on the injured list, and transferred infielder Danny Mendick to the 60-day IL.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers contributed to this report.
