‘I thought I’m going to die’: Eloy Jiménez is pushing to return to the Chicago White Sox after an appendectomy

Eloy Jiménez was asked how he was feeling Wednesday afternoon.

“A couple weeks ago I thought I’m going to die,” Jiménez said, “so I feel really good.”

The Chicago White Sox outfielder/designated hitter spoke with reporters for the first time since undergoing an appendectomy May 6 at Cincinnati’s Good Samaritan Hospital.

Jiménez said he woke up that morning and “all my abs hurt.”

“It was bad,” he said. “I can’t even see or lay down or stand up. It was really bad for a moment. I really thought I was going to die, but now I’m here and I feel good.

“Appendicitis never crossed my mind. I thought it was something that I ate, something funny. But as soon as we got to the doctor, they said right away it was appendicitis. At the beginning, I didn’t even want to have surgery, but you know, health comes first before baseball. So it was tough, but now I’m here and I feel good.”

The initial projection for his recovery was four to six weeks.

“I think I’m going to be back quicker than what they said,” Jiménez said. “I feel really good, I feel really comfortable and everything is going well right now.”

He’s running and playing catch and hopes to hit soon.

“I want to do it right now, but it’s a process and there’s a couple boxes I need to check first,” Jiménez said.

As far as when he might return, Jiménez said: “I don’t know, maybe next week. Next weekend maybe.”

Sox manager Pedro Grifol likes that mentality.

“Because a lot of the rehab is mental, just how fast do you want to go, want to push,” Grifol said before Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians at Guaranteed Rate Field. “At the end of the day you can’t break protocol. But the mind is a really good thing when you’re in rehab. It can take you many different directions.

“I love him thinking like that. I want him to push, to the point where we have to back him off. And that’s what he’s doing right now. He wants to get back out there and be a part of this. I really like to hear that.”

Grifol didn’t know if Jiménez’s timeline is possible.

“I’d have to talk to (head athletic trainer) James (Kruk), but I love the way he’s pushing,” Grifol said. “I love the way he’s working. ... He brings a lot of energy and obviously a good bat too.”

Jiménez was heating up just before the setback. He hit safely in his last eight games, going 14-for-33 (.424) with two home runs, eight RBIs, six runs and a 1.109 OPS during the streak. Overall he is slashing .258/.321/.423 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 25 games.

“Sometimes when you start doing good things and something happens, you’re not going to feel good about it,” he said. “But this is life, it is what it is. Just move forward and keep working hard to get back to the lineup and help the team.”

Liam Hendriks’ next step

Liam Hendriks allowed one run in one inning Tuesday against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre while on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte. The Sox closer will return to Chicago on Thursday or Friday to discuss the next step.

“We’ll sit down and talk (about) how we’ll proceed,” Grifol said. “With Liam it’s day to day, how he feels, how’s your body. There’s no blueprint in this. It’s just constant communication with him. We don’t know exactly the next step, but he’s on course.”

Hendriks, on the road to returning after undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, has allowed six runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in five innings during six outings with the Knights.

Grifol does not anticipate Hendriks pitching for the Sox this weekend.

“We’ll sit down with him, see how his body feels, how his arm feels,” Grifol said. “And we’ll make adjustments to what we have, whatever we need to do. It could be the beginning of next week, the end of next week, we’ll just have to wait and see. He feels good.”

Surgery for Davis Martin

Right-hander Davis Martin, who provided pitching depth last season, recently underwent Tommy John surgery, the Sox announced Wednesday. He had a 2.81 ERA in three starts this season for Charlotte.

Martin went 3-6 with a 4.83 ERA in 14 appearances (nine starts) for the Sox in 2022.

“It’s unfortunate for Davis because he had a good year last year and he had a good spring,” Grifol said. “He impressed me in spring; that was my first time seeing him. He’ll be back from this, just like others do.”