Eloy Jiménez is dreaming big in 2024.
The White Sox slugger appeared on "Foul Territory" to talk baseball and shoot the breeze with A.J. Pierzynski.
During the interview, Pierzynski asked Jiménez if he was going to hit 40 home runs this season.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"If I'm healthy, more than that," Jiménez replied.
Ironically, the last White Sox player to join the 40 club was Todd Frazier, who co-hosted Tuesday's episode of "Foul Territory with Pierzyski.
Jiménez's career-high home run tally came in 2019 when he hit 31 dingers as a rookie. In the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, he slammed 14 home runs in 55 games to earn the Silver Slugger Award. Unfortunately, he's had trouble staying on the field ever since.
White Sox News
Jiménez played just 139 games over the next two seasons (2021, 2022) with a total of 26 home runs. In 2023, he appeared in 120 games, but only hit 18 home runs on a .441 slugging percentage. His numbers dipped in almost every category from the previous season.
For some athletes, "If I'm healthy" is lightweight qualifier to acknowledge the fact that injuries happen in sports. With Jiménez, it's a genuine apprehension.
While there's little he can do in the offseason to prove those early-career injuries were a fluke and not career-defining, the 27-year-old is eager for the team's fresh start after a brutal 2023.
"Last year was a terrible season," he said. "But we're come gonna come at it. This group is good. We're gonna move forward."
When asked what's different about this team heading into the new season, Jiménez cited a greater sense of togetherness.
"Sometimes we tried to be heroes by ourselves," he said. "And this is a team game. No just one guy can do everything. Except for [Shohei] Ohtani. He can do everything.
"That's pretty much what happened last year. We all tried to be a hero, and everyone lost focus on what we needed to do. But this year, it's gonna be different."