The best moments of the Eloy experience
Eloy Jimenez may have only been with Winston-Salem for a month, but he will leave behind a season’s worth of memories.
It may have been brief, but star prospect Eloy Jimenez left quite the mark on the Dash franchise during his time with the club.
Earning his first promotion to Double-A Birmingham (along with catcher Zack Collins) on Tuesday, the 20-year-old leaves Winston-Salem accomplishing just about everything one could in a 29-game span in the Carolina League:
- Co-White Sox MiLB Player of the Month honors in July
- Carolina League Player of the Week from August 7–13
- .345 AVG (38-for-110), 8HR, 11 2B, 26 RBI, .410 OBP and .682 SLG
From his mind-boggling numbers to his majestic home runs, Jimenez, who is rated the fifth-best prospect in the Minors by Baseball America, is a one-of-a-kind talent, seemingly able to capture the imagination of teammates and fans alike. As he gears up for his debut with the Barons, here is a look back at his top five moments as a member of the Dash:
5. The Debut
“I felt surprised, but, at the same time, I knew it was a new opportunity for my career. I feel really good about that. New team, new goals.” — Eloy Jimenez on the trade that sent him from the Cubs to the White Sox.
Regardless of what happens from here, July 13, 2017, will forever be remembered in Chicago baseball history.
For the first time since 2006, the White Sox and the Cubs made a trade with one another. Looking to take their rebuild to another level, the South Siders traded big leaguer Jose Quintana to their crosstown rival for Jimenez (the Cubs’ top prospect at the time), along with highly-touted right-hander Dylan Cease and infielders Bryant Flete and Matt Rose.
Adding to the uniqueness of that day, the Dash were playing on the road against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Cubs’ High-A affiliate, meaning Jimenez (along with Flete and Rose) suited up against his former team in his first game within the White Sox organization.
For as easy as he has made the transition look, the day was a whirlwind for Jimenez. After all, the Cubs inked him as international free agent when he was only 16 years old, and they were the only organization he knew.
“I was a little sad because they were my first team,” said Jimenez. “I signed with them in 2013, and I met a lot of people over there. But, this is baseball. We only play for 30 organizations.”
However, his emotions did not affect his play that night at TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.
In typical Eloy fashion, he delivered the go-ahead hit in the Dash’s 3–2 win:
4. Welcome to Winston-Salem
“You have to understand that this game is all about making the Major League team better and today, I think we’ve done that. [White Sox GM] Rick Hahn did a great job and we’re looking forward to getting these guys ready to play on the South Side of Chicago instead of the North Side." — Dash manager Willie Harris via MiLB.com
On July 2, 2010, a skinny left-hander from Florida Gulf Coast University made his Winston-Salem debut at BB&T Ballpark, tossing a scoreless inning against the Potomac Nationals. Despite making just three more appearances for the High-A club, he has since staked his claim as the greatest Dash alumnus (2009-present) with what he has accomplished in the Majors.
That man, of course, is current Red Sox pitcher and six-time MLB All-Star Chris Sale, who was selected in the first round by Chicago in 2010. If Jimenez reaches his ceiling in the Majors, though, he may make a run at that title.
For one thing, he certainly made a great first impression for the fans in Winston-Salem. After a 6-for-17 start to his tenure as a White Sox farmhand on a two-city road trip, Jimenez made his home debut with the Dash on July 20 against the Salem Red Sox.
In his first game at BB&T Ballpark, Jimenez did not miss a beat. In fact, he blistered an extra-base hit to each spot in the outfield. In his first two at-bats, Jimenez doubled to left and homered to right.
But, it was his second-to-last at-bat of the evening that stood out the most.
Outfielders at the downtown facility rarely have trouble playing batted balls off the high wall in center, but that was not the case in the eighth inning. With the Dash leading 6–5, Jimenez smacked a 419-foot, high-rising liner so hard (110 mph per the team’s tracking system) that the ball bounced past Salem centerfielder Chris Madera on the ricochet:
The Dash lost 7–6 in extra innings, but Jimenez more than lived up to the hype for the home fans.
His final line for the night? A ho-hum, 3-for-5 effort with three extra-base hits.
3. Too fast for Trackman
“This dude is doing some stuff that is off this planet right now…What a professional guy he is, what a professional player he is, and since he’s been in the lineup, all he did is contribute in a very big way.” — Dash hitting coach Charlie Poe via MiLB.com.
By now, you have probably seen the video of Jimenez stadium light-shattering blast during the Carolina League Home Run derby in Salem, Va.
What separates Jimenez from other sluggers in the Carolina League is that nothing is out of the realm of possibility for him.
Take July 23, for example. In the series finale against Salem, Jimenez worked a full count against starter Roniel Raudes with the game tied at two in the bottom of the third.
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On the 3–2 pitch, Jimenez turned on a inside fastball. Here’s what transpired:
As you can see, it took mere seconds for the ball to land beyond the brick wall past the concourse located behind the Nature’s Select Knoll.
But, that’s not all…
Following each home run hit by any player, the Dash’s trackman stringer Dan Cordtz will relay both the exit velocity and distance to those in the press box.
However, for this screaming homer, it did not register for each category. Apparently, machines are no match for Jimenez, too.
(As part of an 11–10, walk-off victory in 11 innings against the Red Sox that day, Jimenez also posted his first professional five-hit contest, finishing 5-for-6 with two singles, two doubles, three RBIs.)
2. 837 feet of power
“Eloy Jimenez is one of the best talents that I have ever been around.” — Dash outfielder Jameson Fisher.
Three days before his promotion to Double-A Birmingham, Jimenez crafted his magnum opus in a Dash uniform.
On August 12 against the Lynchburg Hillcats, the former Cubs farmhand, who carried a 10-game hitting streak into this game, posted his first multi-homer effort of the year, with both shots totaling a combined 837 feet.
Ironically, Hillcats righty Kieran Lovegrove, who gave up the second moonshot, had joked with Jimenez about his power a couple of days before when he posted his new Twitter picture:
Here was Lovegrove’s initial response:
However, the day after his homer, Lovegrove followed up that tweet with one that was all too appropriate:
1. Eloy calls his shot
“Eloy is so good. It’s so exciting to watch. You can pretty much predict he’s going to do something unbelievable.” — Dash starter Ian Clarkin via Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago
While White Sox fans watched in awe of Jimenez’s exploits in Winston-Salem, his Dash teammates were doing the exact same thing.
This is, undoubtedly, the best part of the Eloy experience.
Here’s a sampling of quotes from an article on Jimenez by CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes:
Dash right-hander Dane Dunning: “When Eloy comes up to bat it’s like, I could try to get him inside and bam he hits a home run on a fastball in. You’re like, alright, maybe slider away and its bam double in the gap slider away. It’s just like everything I think of he can hit. He’s one of those kids who sees the ball real well and he’s able to put good swings on them so it’s more or less that you get lucky.”
Former Dash catcher Zack Collins: “We have this rule in baseball, four pitches and you can intentionally walk him…That’s about all I would do is walk him every time. He’s unreal right now and obviously locked in. He’s a great hitter and hits the ball to all fields, so there’s really nothing you can pitch him.”
This admiration was no better personified then on August 4 at BB&T Ballpark against the Potomac Nationals.
With the Dash leading 5–2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the 6-foot-4 outfielder capped off the club’s scoring efforts with a line-drive, three-run homer to left:
It was his fifth homer with Winston-Salem, but, more importantly, it also completed a prophetic promise to Dash left-hander Ian Clarkin.
Before the game, Clarkin had asked what he had in store for that day on the field.
Here was his response:
Following the final out of a 8–2 win over Potomac, Clarkin paid homage to the slugger:
Now, #thebesss heads off to Birmingham, only a couple of stops away from his destined home in Chicago.
Thanks for the memories, Eloy.
