CHICAGO -- The White Sox will make one more September callup prior to Tuesday's game with the Tigers. But that callup will be right-handed reliever Jose Ruiz from Double-A Birmingham and not outfielder Eloy Jimenez.
General manager Rick Hahn went into detail on the decision not to add the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 3 prospect overall per MLB Pipeline during a 20-minute media session prior to Monday afternoon's series opener with the Tigers.
"At this point we don't feel it makes sense for Eloy, at age 21, to make an appearance at a third level this season," said Hahn of Jimenez, who has excelled for Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte during the 2018 season. "From a player development standpoint, we view him as continuing to improve. He has had a very good season offensively. In our opinion, it's in everyone's best interest for him to continue to develop into a well-rounded impactful player that we project him to be.
"One thing that I hope does not get lost in this is how excited we are about his future and how big a part he is of our future. Eloy understands that. He has heard it from me and from others. His agents have heard it from me. He's very well positioned to make a significant impact at the big league level at age 22 next year, which is a fantastic path for any essential impact player to be on."
Jimenez, who did not start in Charlotte's season finale Monday at Gwinnett, batted .337 with 22 home runs, 28 doubles, 75 RBIs and a .961 OPS between his two stops. He posted a .355 average, .996 OPS, 12 homers and 33 RBIs over 211 at-bats with the Knights.
But Hahn once again stressed the patience factor in terms of player development within the rebuild. He has talked before about giving every player who arrives in the Majors the best chance to stay and excel in the Majors.
With Michael Kopech, the No. 2 White Sox prospect who has made three starts for the team, it was about developing his secondary stuff beyond the electric fastball. With Jimenez, Hahn pointed toward overall improvement in his game.
"We're not looking to develop a 21-year-old DH. Offensively, he's in a very good spot, but we view him much higher," Hahn said. "Just as we didn't view Michael as a bullpen guy, we viewed him as a potential front-end starter. We view Eloy as a potentially elite all-around player, and although offensively he might be in a real good spot -- he's had a very good year offensively -- we're looking to develop him as a well-rounded, impact player."
Hahn termed Jimenez's recent entry in the Players Tribune as a "fantastic article," exposing fans to what makes Jimenez tick, his enthusiasm for the city and his passion and desire for winning multiple championships. He also wasn't bothered by Jimenez's proclamation of being ready for Chicago.
"We've been hearing that from him since [Class] A ball. So that's fine," said Hahn with a smile. "We much prefer our players to feel like they are ready, and they want to accelerate the time frame we have them on.
"[White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper] puts it best when he said we would rather tame a bronco than prod a mule. We might have a thoroughbred on our hands here, but we are going to still develop him on a path that we feel makes the most sense."
As far as service time being an issue, Hahn said the team's record speaks for itself in promoting potential impact players when they are ready. Hahn added they would keep an open mind for Jimenez, who plans to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic once again, making the team out of Spring Training in 2019.
"You saw it the middle of last year with [Yoan Moncada] and [Reynaldo Lopez], you saw it last September with [Lucas Giolito], you saw it a few weeks ago with Kopech," Hahn said. "Our track record's pretty clear on this: When we feel a player is developmentally ready to fulfill, or put in the best position to fulfill and meet their ceiling, we will advance them to the next level.
Scott Merkin