GLENDALE, Ariz. — Andrew Vaughn was looking around the room.
“For a fire extinguisher,” he said.
For Eloy Jimenez.
“He’s en fuego right now!” Vaughn said. “It’s impressive.”
It’s only spring training, and the games and results won’t matter until Opening Day on March 28, but Jimenez’s at-bats and swing have a slightly different look. And they look great.
“His at-bats are phenomenal right now,” Vaughn said. “He’s putting really good swings on the ball.”
For Jimenez, 27, it has always been about staying healthy enough to put up numbers that would look nice over more than 122 games, his career high in 2019, his rookie season. That year, Jimenez batted .267/.315/.513 with a career-high 31 home runs.
But it’s also about getting the ball in the air. His power to all fields has been described as “prodigious.” But the thing separating him from elite status is a career ground-ball rate of 50.4%.
Enter this offseason, and an adjustment he said was recommended by a personal hitting coach, Amaury Nina, who also happens to be his godfather. Jimenez came to camp with an altered setup, with his hands held slightly higher, that gets his swing started sooner. And it’s making a significant difference.
“The biggest issue is getting started early with his load,” White Sox assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar said.
“Timing is the key,” Jimenez said. “It’s good to be on time.”
Tosar holds his left hand out in front of him, between his belt and knees, to demonstrate.
“Getting prepared early, slowing it down,” Tosar said. “Instead of ‘rush, rush, I’ve got to rush to get here.’ Now he’s hitting the ball on the way down instead of catching it out front. If he’s late, it’s going down [on the ground]. If he’s on time or early, it’s going.”
“Coach’s dream,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “A lot of times you make adjustments, and it doesn’t happen that way, and you have to wait around a little bit to see it. But when you make adjustments, and it works right away, No. 1, that was the right adjustment, and No. 2, just luck of the draw. It was a much-needed adjustment; the ball is in the air. He’s got ability, he’s got power, but at the same time, the ball is finding holes.”
Jimenez said he simply has his hands where they were in the minor leagues. It felt “weird” at first, but he thought, “Why not bring it back?”
He’s confident enough to not back away from his winter prediction of 40 homers and says batting .300 is within his reach, too.
“Why not?” Jimenez, a career .275/.324/.487 hitter, said. “I’ve done it in the past [in the minor leagues].”
In nine Cactus League games, he’s 13-for-25 with a home run, two doubles and only two strikeouts.
Teammates are saying things like “start the season now,” Jimenez said.
Vaughn, batting behind Jimenez, has watched from up close.
“His approach at the plate, his plan,” Vaughn said. “He’s going in there executing every single time, which is tough to do as a hitter. That’s one of our goals — have a plan, execute it. There’s a lot of good things that go into it, but he’s putting really good swings on good pitches to hit.”
The Sox’ lineup is not projected to wreak havoc on the rest of the league, but having Jimenez for at least 140 games would be significant. Knowing his history of injuries, it’s a significant “if.”
But a team can hope.
“Huge,” Vaughn said of what a full Jimenez season could mean. “He’s one of the better power hitters in the game, and he can spray the ball around the field. He’s a good all-around hitter. That is the goal, man. Keep him in the lineup, and good things will happen.”
“This is another year,” Jimenez said. “I’m here. I’m ready, and I feel good.
“It’s good. I worked for it, and the results are good. When you work on something, you want to see the results.”
