White Sox’ Eloy Jimenez out 6-8 weeks with hamstring strain

MINNEAPOLIS — The White Sox on Sunday said they expect outfielder Eloy Jimenez to be out approximately six to eight weeks with a right hamstring strain.

Jimenez landed on the 10-day injured list and will undergo further evaluation by team physicians at Rush hospital before a treatment plan is put in place, the team said. In a statement, the Sox characterized the 6-8 week period as preliminary.

“The big thing is tomorrow when he goes to Chicago and really gets an extensive exam,” manager Tony La Russa said. “Pulling for the early indications.”

Surgery would be the worst-case scenario for Jimenez, who had surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle in March 2021, and missed almost four months of the season.

“I mean, we just have to wait and see,” La Russa said, when asked if that was a possibility. “They are going to give him a good look tomorrow. We’ll see.”

The Sox will reveal details on Jimenez’ outlook Tuesday before the team opens a home-stand at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Sox completed a road trip Sunday in Minneapolis with a 6-4 loss in 10 innings to the Twins.

Jimenez was injured running out a ground ball in the second inning of a 9-2 loss to the Twins on Saturday. He entered the Sox clubhouse on crutches Sunday morning.

“The injury to Eloy is more important than losing the game,” La Russa said Saturday. “He banged the hamstring serious enough. We have to wait for the MRI to get the final diagnosis, but it makes everybody want to break up. We lost a player two years in a row.

“It just breaks your heart.”

Jimenez joins eight players on the injured list: Right-handers Lance Lynn (right knee), Ryan Burr (shoulder strain), Joe Kelly (biceps nerve) and Jonathan Stiever (right lat surgery), left-hander Garrett Crochet (Tommy John surgery), third baseman Yoan Moncada (oblique) and outfielder Yermin Mercedes (broken hamate bone).

“It’s unbelievable,” hitting coach Frank Menechino said. “That guy’s busting his butt and he gets hurt running hard down to first base. And as players you look around and go, ‘Oh my God, maybe I shouldn’t run that hard or I don’t want to get hurt.’ ’’

Luis Robert sustained a groin pull in Cleveland Thursday running out a ground ball that would keep him out of the series in Minneapolis. Robert also tore a hip flexor running out a grounder last May, and Nick Madrigal suffered a proximal tear of his hamstring last June when he was with the Sox, requiring surgery. Madrigal was also running out a grounder.

Outfielder AJ Pollock also landed on the IL running to first base during the first series of the season in Detroit.

This and that

Right-hander Ryan Burr is starting an injury rehab stint at Triple-A Charlotte. Right-hander Joe Kelly is pitching in games in Arizona and is expected to go to Charlotte next before joining the Sox.

—- The Sox have scored 22 runs over the last 10 games. Four runs on Sunday were the most since April 14. They also homered twice for the first time since then.

“The mental game is beating us,” Menechino said before the game. “The mental part of the game is beating us down. And that can’t happen because when you’re not getting hits, not scoring runs and you start taking your at-bats to the field, that’s not good.”