Injuries have defined this era of White Sox baseball, and the careers of both Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert Jr. along with it.
The White Sox have played bad baseball over the past few seasons. Injuries are no excuse for that. That said, it's hard to get your window of contention off the ground when two of the most highly-touted prospects in team history can't stay on the field.
Robert Jr. has dealt with a plethora of injuries since he debuted for the White sox in 2020. The star slugger was placed on the 60-day injured list one month into the 2021 season with a complete tear of his right hip flexor. In total, he missed 36% of his games from 2021 to 2023.
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Here's the full list of injuries Robert Jr. has suffered throughout his first five major league seasons:
Hand — Aug. 18, 2020
Illness — April 27, 2021
Hip — May 2, 2021
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Groin — April 21, 2022
COVID-19 — May 24, 2022
Illness — July 15, 2022
Wrist — Aug. 12, 2022
Hand/Wrist — Sept. 15, 2022
Wrist — Sept. 24, 2022
Hamstring — April 29, 2023
Hip — May 23, 2023
Calf — July 10, 2023
Finger — Aug. 9 2023
Quad — Sept. 2, 2023
Knee — Sept. 24, 2023
Hip — April 5, 2024
* Data courtesy of Fox Sports
As it turned out, that lengthy IL stint was no isolated incident. Most recently, Jimenez landed on the injured list with a left adductor strain in the third game of the 2024 season. And plenty happened in-between, which led the slugger to only play in 53% of possible games from 2021 to 2023
Here's a list of every injury that has caused Jimenez to miss time throughout his first six MLB seasons:
Ankle — April 26, 2019
Elbow — July 16, 2019
Hip — Aug. 22, 2019
Light-headedness — July 26, 2020
Foot — Sept. 24, 2020
Foot — Oct. 1, 2020
Pectoral — March 29, 2021
Groin — July 28, 2021
Knee — Sept. 7, 2021
Hamstring — April 13, 2022
Leg — July 13, 2022
Elbow — Aug. 23, 2022
Leg — Sept. 1, 2022
Hamstring — April 5, 2023
Appendix — May 6, 2023
Leg — June 8, 2023
Heel — Aug. 4, 2023
Groin — Aug. 16, 2023
Adductor — April 1, 2024
* Data courtesy of Fox Sports