Who will lead 2020 White Sox in home runs? Eloy Jiménez has the answer

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Who will hit the most home runs on the White Sox in this bizarre, shortened 2020 season?

It's a pretty safe bet Eloy Jiménez won't hit 31 like he did during his rookie campaign in 2019, a number that came two shy of José Abreu's team-leading 33. After all, that'd be a homer in every other game, the equivalent of an 80-homer season under normal circumstances.

But even though it might not be realistic to expect him to repeat his total from a year ago, he thinks the answer to the initial question is a pretty obvious one.

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Asked Wednesday who he thinks will be the team leader in dingers by season's end, he responded without a word, only a hand motion.

Jiménez was in rare — OK, normal, for him — form Wednesday, holding up bobbleheads, smiling from ear to ear when asked about his latest "thanks, Cubs" moment and shouting about this reporter's new facial hair for 2020.

But it's not an outlandish thing to wonder after Rick Hahn remade the White Sox lineup from the end of last season. The additions of Yasmani Grandal, Edwin Encarnación, Nomar Mazara and Luis Robert mean a lot more power for a team that ranked near the bottom of the league in home runs and slugging percentage last season.

Then there's Abreu. And Yoán Moncada. And even Tim Anderson, who hit 18 of 'em last season.

In other words, Jiménez has plenty of competition.

RELATED: How Eloy Jiménez can help White Sox rookie Luis Robert during short MLB season

"We don’t talk about that, we just talk about just going out, try to do our part and play hard, no matter what happens, no matter how we feel," Jiménez said. "Just compete and try to make the playoffs. We don’t talk about who’s going to be the MVP or all that, we just want to be in the playoffs."

Obviously that's the goal for this group of White Sox. But someone's going to lead the team in long balls.

And someone's going to lead the league, too. Might it be Jiménez? He got that question, too, Wednesday.

"What do you think?" he responded.

Upon receiving confirmation from the questioner that he's got a shot:

"OK."


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