Adam Engel won’t try to do too much while filling in for Eloy Jimenez.
Adam Engel admits when hewas younger, he might have approached filling in for slugger Eloy Jimenez a little differently.
“The younger me might try to step up and completely fill the shoes of Eloy Jimenez, which is a pretty tall order,” Engel said before Saturday’s game against the Cubs at Guaranteed Rate Field. “But being a little bit older and a little bit more mature, I’m just going out there and playing my game.”
Engel has played well as the top outfield option off the bench for the White Sox. He started in left field for the first two games of the City Series after Jimenez suffered a right foot sprain Thursday against the Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Jimenez likely will miss the entire series as he tries to recover intime for the playoffs, which start Tuesday.
“I try not to step up and try to hit homers and have really good at-bats and do all the awesome things Eloy does,” Engel said. “He’s a tremendous player, and obviously not having him in the lineup is not an optimal lineup for us.
“I can’t try to be like Eloy Jimenez. That’s not who I am. I’d make the team worse if I tried to be like Eloy, so I’m just … trying to help the team win.”
Engel is slashing .296/.329/.457 with five doubles, one triple, two home runs, 10 RBIs and 10 runs in 34 games.
“With the role I’ve played this year, I felt like every time I was in the game I found a way to contribute one way or another,” Engel said. “That’s something I try to take a lot of pride in, kind of leave my mark on every game if I can.
“To me, this is a really good club, and we’re ina really good position going into the postseason. So Iwould say (as) a guy that’s a little bit more team-minded and teamoriented as far as not really looking at my own personal stats and stuff like that, it’s been a good year.”
Amajority of his starts havecomein right field. Engel is elite defensively, as he showed while making a running catch for the final out of Lucas Giolito’s Aug. 25 no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“(Engel) hashad a great season for us and he’s helped us a lot,” Sox manager Rick Renteria said Saturday. “However we need to proceed, we still remain optimistic that after a few days Eloywill be able to rebound and join us.”
Engel wants to do all he can to help the team break out of its recent slide. The Sox entered Saturday on a season-high sixgame losing streak and had lost seven of eight.
“Even though we’ve been losing games, we’ve been playing pretty good baseball,” Engel said. “We’ve had some tough breaks here and there. This isn’t like a stretch of games wherewe feel likewe’re playing bad baseball or things are sloppy. I don’t think that’s the case.
“For the most part, guys are coming to the field every day with a really good attitude and we’re working really hard. Nothing’s really changed a whole lot from whenwewere winning to now, so that’s the sign of a good club.
“Hopefully we right the ship and get some momentum going into the postseason.”