White Sox put Eloy Jiménez in the 10th IL, remember Jake Burger

The White Sox suffered their first regular season injury. The team put Eloy Jiménez into the IL 10-Day race on Wednesday with a low-grade left hamstring strain. They think the injury will keep Jimenez on the shelf for two or three weeks. He injured himself while running the bases in the seventh inning of a Monday night game against the Giants.

“I didn’t notice anything (at the time),” manager Pedro Grifoll said. “I don’t think anyone did that until he mentioned that he felt something in his hamstring and he could take his putter, but he might need a pinch runner. At the time there was no point in him taking any chances in that attack, so we erred on the side. Caution.”

Jake Burger will take Jiménez’ place on the 26-man roster. Burger is 2-12 (. 167) in three games with Triple-A Charlotte this year. Burger was hitting better in spring training, slashing .263/.300/.491 with four home runs and nine RBI in 23 games.

Injuries slowed down Jiménez for most of his career. He played 122 games in 2019, his rookie year. Jimenez was limited to 55 games in 2021 and 84 last year. He entered spring training 25-30 pounds lighter this year in the hopes that it will help him stay healthier. The team moved him to designated hitter, in part because they hoped it would help him stay healthy as well.

“We’re hopeful it won’t be anything in the long run,” Grifoll said.

Jimenez hits . 200 early this year with two doubles and three RBI.

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