As we enter the second week of the MLB regular season, here are three things to keep an eye on around the league:
1. Is Eloy Jiménez headed for the IL?
White Sox DH Eloy Jiménez left Sunday’s contest against the Tigers with what the team originally deemed “left adductor soreness” and manager Pedro Grifol later called “an adductor strain” (per Scott Merkin of MLB.com). The adductors are muscles that run from the pelvic bone to the knee along the inner thigh.
After the game, Grifol said, “We’ll see tomorrow how [Jiménez] wakes up. They’re going to do some testing on it… We’re not sure until tomorrow” (per Merkin). While we should know more about the severity of Jiménez’s injury sometime today, James Fegan of Sox Machine notes that the oft-injured DH previously suffered an adductor strain as a minor leaguer in 2018. That particular injury kept him on the shelf for two weeks. Fegan also mentions that Lenyn Sosa is being recalled from Triple-A, which seems to indicate an incoming IL stint announcement.
2. More teams waiting on injury updates:
The White Sox aren’t the only team waiting on injury updates today. Two Giants players exited yesterday’s action early, and the team said both would be reevaluated on Monday. First baseman Wilmer Flores suffered a shoulder contusion after falling into the dugout while trying to catch a foul ball. An inning later, starting pitcher Daulton Jefferies left the game himself due to right hip discomfort.
On the minor league side, Rays infielder (and star prospect) Junior Caminero suffered a quad injury at Triple-A on Sunday. It looked exceptionally painful as the young infielder limped to first base before dropping to the ground, but there is no word yet on the severity of the injury. Like Flores and Jefferies, Caminero will undergo testing today.
3. The Giants take on the Dodgers:
As the Giants wait for updates on Flores and Jefferies, they will head to Chavez Ravine to take on the Dodgers. San Francisco made a push to sign superstar Shohei Ohtani this offseason, and now the Giants will get their first look at the two-time MVP playing for their long-time rivals. San Francisco was also a finalist to land NPB ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, although the Giants won’t see him this week in L.A.
For their part, the Dodgers get a chance to take on the new-look Giants. Although Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi didn’t land the two biggest fish of the offseason, he still transformed his team’s roster, adding Jung Hoo Lee, Jorge Soler, and Matt Chapman to the top of the lineup and Blake Snell and Jordan Hicks to the starting rotation.