CHICAGO There wasa recentat-batthat perhapsbest describes the way Eloy Jimenez embodies where the White Sox live right now:full of hope and expectation, but not quite ready to fully deliver.In Cleveland on Sept. 4, Jimenez went to the plate in the top of the ninth with one out and the bases loaded, his team down 8-6. The White Sox had already rallied for two runs to draw the game within striking distance, and Jimenez had a chance to complete the comeback. He worked back from an 0-2 count against Nick Wittgren by taking two balls, fouling off a pair, and spitting on a 2-2 slider out of the zone.Then Jimenez cranked Wittgrens Kurt Benkert Jersey eighth pitch of the at-bat to dead center for a sure bases-clearing double. Barreled it 110 mph off of his bat for a .740 expected batting average. A sure thing.Except Indians center fielder Oscar Mercado caught it. Hope, expectation, a walk to the dugout in frustration.Rooting for the White Sox these days means attaching hope to the po sibility of whats to come, and much of that rests onJimenezs shoulders. Hes the avatar of the White Sox future.MORE: Its easy to forget that Jimenez is just 22 and a rookie. Hes at ease with himself in a way that belies his age, and his potential in baseball Ty Summers Jersey is large. There have been glimpses of that potential, but plenty of pitfalls too such as injury and his desire to do too much.The latter is a common adage in baseball. Players will often cite not trying to do too much as the reason for succe s in high-pre sure situations. Dont swing for the fences when a sac fly will do. Dont go for the punchout if a ground ball will get the job done. Dont try to drive in every runner yourself.That, Jimenez told Sporting News, has been the biggest le son in his rookie year.Be patient, he said. Be patient with all that I do.When he goes to the plate and sees runners on base, its been hard not to want to do all the work himself. He gets too focused on trying to produce, Jimenez said, and sometimes he ends up empty-handed. Hes hit just .154 this year in what FanGraphs cla sifies as high-leverage spots. With no one on base, Jimenez is hitting .254 with a 91 wRC+. When there are runners in scoring position, those numbers drop to a .213 average and a 78 wRC+.Sometimes I get too excited, and I want to bring (in) both instead of one, Jimenez said of at-bats with runners on base. And I dont do the job.Its not just when there are runners on base, either. Jimenez enjoys playing in Chicago so much and cares about producing for his home fans so much that he thinks it may affect his performance. The numbers appear to back it up.Jimenez has performed better when the White Sox are on the road. In away games this season, Jimenez strikes out le s often, has a wRC+ thats 19 points higher, and his OPS climbs by nearly 100 points.It took him more than two weeks into the season to hit his first home run, and it came after the White Sox finished their first homestand. Jimenez clubbed two in one game against the Yankees in the first game of the road trip.When Im in Chicago, sometimes I want to do more, Jimenez said. Thats why it might be tougher for me.He did get to give White Sox fans the satisfaction of seeing him hit a game-winning home run in Chicago on June 18, when he broke his bat driving Pedro Strops two-seam Preston Smith Jersey fastball to the left field bleachers at Wrigley. Thats the place where many, including Jimenez, once thought he would be playing in the majors. The Cubs signed him at 16 years old in 2013 and brought him through their system with sights set on a lot of big hits in the Friendly Confines. But in July 2017 Reggie White Jersey , Jimenez was shipped with pitcher Dylan Cease to the other side of town in a trade for Jose Quintana.Thats the field I dreamed of playing on, Jimenez said of Wrigley.So it made things a little sweeter for him to hit a game-changing home run in front of that crowd. No spite for the Cubs faithful, he said, just joy in doing something in his home city in front of so many of his home fans.Jimenez has struggled to stay on the field more or le s since he signed his first contract six years ago. He has been injured to varying degrees every year hes played, starting with his pro debut in 2014 when he injured his shoulder. Last year, he couldnt begin the season on time because of knee and pectoral injuries, and during his rookie campaign this season he has hit the injured list twice.In April, he mi sed time with a high ankle sprain, and then a right ulnar nerve contusion cost Jimenez a chunk of July all games Jimenez didnt want to mi s.Every time I started to feel good and comfortable at the plate, something happened, he said.When Jimenez hurt his ankle, he was hitting .241, but he had gotten a hit in four of the six games before the injury. And then in July, Jimenez was riding a five-game hitting streak when he hit the IL again.Jimenez said he spent the first two days of that IL stint angry, but he got over that quickly. He knew that it was a learning opportunity he needed to seize rather than squander by sulking for 10 days.It was bad, but at the same time it was a good thing to happen early in my career because now I know what I need to do Green Bay Packers Hats to get back to the field soon, Jimenez said.Through all this frustration, trying to temper his desire to do everything for his team and just trying to stay healthy, Jimenez is infectiously joyful. Cease called him a super happy dude and said his energy is contagious for the rest of the team.When hes going through a hot streak and it looks like hes squaring up every ball, its like, man, this is special, Cease told Sporting News.FLASHBACK: Jimenez smiles constantly, jokes with teammates and media (he enjoys posing as a reporter during pregame scrums by holding up his bat like a boom mic), and jumps at opportunities to interact with fans. Recently, when Jose Abreu was supposed to deliver a birthday present to a fan before a game but couldnt, Jimenez happily filled in for him despite just having completed hours of pregame work.I know when we do that, someones life is changing, Jimenez said of his interactions with White Sox fans. We can change someones life. For me, its really cool, and I enjoy it when I do that.The biggest performance Sterling Sharpe Jersey question for Jimenez after this year will be whether he can stay on the field. If he can, he should eventually hit for a higher average and has shown that he can hit for plenty of power (he averages about one home run per four games this season). Jimenez is also putting in the work to become a reliable left fielder.Jimenez can be seen doing drills in the outfield to work on his defense, usually many hours before the first pitch. White Sox manager Rick Renteria has often pulled him late in games to get a better glove in left field, but he said his hope is th