Eloy Jiménez hit a two-run home run in his first rehab stint with the Winston-Salem Dash Saturday while the White Sox played the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.
Tony La Russa was nothing but smiles upon hearing the good news.
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"I'm sure when the guys, they hear that, that'll give 'em a jolt," La Russa said.
Jiménez went 2-for-4 in the 9-6 win over the Hickory Crawdads.
The 24-year-old was a key player on a team that is projected to make the playoffs — and hopefully a World Series appearance — but suffered a ruptured left pectoral tendon on March 24 during a spring training game against the Oakland A's. It was originally said that Jiménez would be out at least four to five months.
"When we allow ourselves, I mean, as a team, to be where we are without him (Jiménez), and without Luis (Robert) and (Nick) Madrigal, you know, the whole litany of issues, and now Yaz (Yasmani Grandal), you know, the guys start to own the fact that they're gonna play hard and play with whoever we got," La Russa said. "But they know that help is on the way."
The Sox have suffered quite the injury bug while continuing to be one of the best teams in baseball.
The players the Sox have used so far as replacements for Robert, Madrigal and Grandal have been nothing short of impressive.
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Gavin Sheets had eight hits in his first 25 at-bats while Jake Burger had four hits in his first 12 at-bats with both a double and a triple, giving them quite the big-league week respectively.
Andrew Vaughn has done quite well filling in for Jiménez both offensively and defensively. The rookie has 59 hits, eight home runs and 22 RBIs in 74 games for the Sox this season.
Still, La Russa knows that having Jiménez back in the lineup would do wonders for the lineup and team morale.
"He would be humongous," La Russa said. "I'm getting a kick out of it. "They'll (the team) really get a kick out of it."