The White Sox are reportedly calling up outfielder Zach DeLoach following Eloy Jimenez’s injury, according to baseball writer Francys Romero.
Jimenez left Tuesday’s game against Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth inning with a left hamstring strain that was suffered as he was running home on a Corey Julks single. He was replaced by Dominic Fletcher in the seventh inning. The team said Jimenez is being evaluated but has yet to provide any further updates. Given that DeLoach is being called up, Jimenez will likely be landing on the 15-day IL.
DeLoach is the 29th-ranked prospect in the White Sox farm system according to MLB Pipeline. DeLoach was acquired over the offseason as part of a trade that sent Gregory Santos to the Mariners in exchange for Prelander Berroa.
The former second-round pick out of Texas A&M hit 23 home runs and slashed .286/.387/.481 in Triple-A last season with 88 RBIs and 55 extra-base hits. The left-handed bat hasn’t shown nearly as much power with the Charlotte Knights this season. DeLoach is hitting .263/.358/.343 with two home runs, 18 RBIs, and six extra-base hits in 137 plate appearances. However, the 25-year-old has already stolen eight bases, matching his season total from last year.
DeLoach has shown solid plate discipline and a willingness to take pitches. He has drawn 19 walks this season, which would be tied for the team lead on the White Sox. This comes after he drew 83 free passes last season. On top of being able to work counts, DeLoach can also spray the ball over the entire field.
The concern with DeLoach is his high strikeout totals. This season he owns a 26% strikeout rate and has gone down on strikes over 100 times in each of the last three seasons. Last year he struck out a whopping 173 times. Scouts believe that his willingness to take borderline pitches is one of the things that is contributing to his high strikeout numbers.
On the defensive end, he can play all three outfield positions. The bulk of his time this season has been spent in left field. However, for his career, he has mostly played right field. Entering the season he had logged a 2011.2 inning there. During that stretch, he owns a .977 fielding percentage. He has yet to make an error at either position this season and already has three outfield assists.
The White Sox currently have a handful of outfielders vying for consistent playing time in Corey Julks, and Dominic Fletcher. Playing time has been hard to come by with Andrew Benintendi and Tommy Pham taking up the bulk of the playing time in left and center field. Meanwhile, Gavin Sheets has been primarily used as a right fielder with Jimenez at DH and Andrew Vaughn at first base. With Jimenez’s injury, Sheets can now slide into the DH role which opens a spot in right field.
