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Eloy Jiménez: September Rookie of the Month

One of baseball’s most exciting young players ended the season with a bang

By Year of the Hamster

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MLB: Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox
Accolades, activate! Eloy nabs another rookie honor.
Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports

Following up on his American League Player of the Week honors in mid-September, Chicago White Sox left fielder Eloy Jiménez was named the AL Rookie of the month for September.

The 22-year-old slashed .340/.383/.710 with eight doubles, nine homers, 25 RBIs and 19 runs in 24 games to secure his first career monthly honor.

Among all AL players, Jiménez tied for the September league lead in RBI and tied for fourth in doubles and homers, fifth in slugging percentage, seventh in OPS (1.093), tied for seventh in runs and 10th in batting average.

In his rookie season, Jiménez hit .267 with 18 doubles, 31 home runs, 79 RBIs, 69 runs and a .513 slugging percentage over 122 games. The potent clubber led all AL rookies in homers, RBIs, slugging percentage and OPS (.828).

His 31 homers are the third-highest total in White Sox history by a rookie, trailing only teammate José Abreu (36 in 2014) and Ron Kittle (35 in 1983). Here’s a side-by-side account of three star rookie left fielders for the White Sox in the past 36 years:

Ron Kittle led the majors in strikeouts in 1983, with 150 — that would have placed him 32 in baseball in 2019, and third on the White Sox alone! He was also named AL Rookie of the Year, an honor that eluded Carlos Lee and will likely bypass Jiménez.

While Kittle had a higher bWAR than Jiménez, when accounting for lost time, you can see Kittle’s and Jiménez’s production were very similar (Jiménez would round up to a 1.7 bWAR had he played in 145 games instead of 122, as well as hitting 37 homers).

The White Sox have had five league awards this season:

  • Tim Anderson (April AL Player of the Month)
  • Lucas Giolito (May AL Pitcher of the Month)
  • Lucas Giolito (AL Player of the Week May 27-June 2)
  • Eloy Jiménez (AL Player of the Week September 9-15)
  • Eloy Jiménez (September AL Rookie of the Month)

Hey, let me remind you again, it might be a great time to indulge in some great Eloy wear!

First, there the classic Pinwheel Power, from SSS and Breaking T.

Second, there’s the new Hi Mom!!, from South Side Hit Pen.

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