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Jimenez opens winter ball with slam

Top White Sox prospect collects two hits in Dominican debut
Eloy Jimenez has belted 33 home runs since his trade to the White Sox in July 2017. (Chris Robertson/MiLB.com)
November 30, 2018

Whenever Eloy Jiménez is wielding a bat, there's a good chance he's connecting on a few hard hit balls. He did it again on Friday night. The top White Sox prospect belted a grand slam on a two-hit night in his Dominican Winter League debut, but the Gigantes del Cibao fell

Whenever Eloy Jiménez is wielding a bat, there's a good chance he's connecting on a few hard hit balls. He did it again on Friday night. 
The top White Sox prospect belted a grand slam on a two-hit night in his Dominican Winter League debut, but the Gigantes del Cibao fell to the Estrellas Orientales, 6-5.

Box score
Jimenez started doing damage in the second inning, hitting a single back up the middle that caromed off starter Lisalverto Bonilla before bouncing toward the first base line. 
With one out in the third, MLB.com's No. 3 overall prospect faced Bonilla with the bases full and sent a no-doubt blast over the left field wall for a grand slam. It followed an impressive winter ball debut last year in which he also went deep. 
Tweet from @Gigantes_Cibao: ��BANG! 💥������ Disfruten del Grand Slam de nuestro Eloy Jim��nez en su segundo turno. #YoSoyCibao #PuraSangreCibae��a pic.twitter.com/tqtsKslfBX
In his first full year in the White Sox system, Jimenez posted an impressive campaign between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte. Despite a couple of stints on the disabled list, the 22-year-old outfielder batted .337/.384/.577 with 22 homers and 75 RBIs in 108 contests. In 408 Minor League games, he's hit .311 with 65 homers and a .878 OPS. 

Giants No. 17 prospectAbiatal Avelino went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored to round out the Gigantes offense.
For the Estrellas, No. 2 overall prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. collected a hit, a walk and a run scored, while fellow Padres prospectFrancisco Mejía finished with two hits, an RBI and a run scored.

Andrew Battifarano is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter, @AndrewAtBatt.