Notes: Eloy slimmer, committed to playing RF

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Eloy Jiménez certainly can deliver on a surprise.

The White Sox designated hitter/outfielder promised something special to reporters during a Zoom call on Jan. 23, when questioned about his offseason conditioning program. In his first meeting with the media at Spring Training, a noticeably trimmer Jiménez spoke of losing 25 to 30 pounds since the end of the 2022 campaign.

“I’m here,” said a smiling Jiménez, pointing to himself. “This is the surprise.

“I wanted to do it because I was like that when I was in Minor Leagues, and I had success. So, I thought why not do that here? The benefit is I’m quicker, I can run faster, and I feel good.”

Hard work was always there for Jiménez, but a change in diet made the difference. He gave up red meat, which he said was the toughest move of the diet switch, eating more chicken and salmon.

That change also was made for Jiménez to have a viable shot at playing right field, a defensive position he would move to with Andrew Benintendi now anchored in left. The White Sox are a better team with Jiménez at designated hitter, but manager Pedro Grifol appreciates his desire to not solely focus on hitting at this point of the 26-year-old’s career.

“Why would you not commit yourself and compete for a job in the outfield? I love it,” Grifol said. “He's a mainstay in our lineup, of course. But why wouldn't you want to prepare yourself, and go out there and compete for a defensive job? I would do the same thing if I was in his shoes. I want him to do that. I want him to go out there and stay hungry, and compete for that right-field job.”

“Yeah, we were talking and [Grifol said], ‘I’m going to put you out there. Give me your best,’” Jiménez said. “I’m going to do that. And I try to stay there because everybody here knows I don’t like DH. I’m going to work to be an outfielder.”

Being lighter not only helps Jiménez defensively, but also at the plate.

“I feel that I hit the ball with less movement,” Jiménez said. “Sometimes when I was overweight, I have to rush myself. Right now, I feel better that I don’t need to rush anything.

“If I’m healthy, I know I can do anything. I just try to get better every year. I don’t have expectations on myself. I know I’m good, so if I’m healthy, that’s my biggest thing.”

Shaw joins South Siders
Bryan Shaw was asked about how the Minor League deal with a non-roster invite for White Sox Spring Training came about when he arrived at the team’s clubhouse on Wednesday. The veteran right-hander paused, smiled and asked, “What answer do you want? The actual answer or the PC one?”

When asked for the actual one, Shaw responded, “They called and gave me a job.”

“They had interest all offseason. We’ve been talking to them,” Shaw said. “We were hoping to find a big league deal somewhere. It didn’t happen. But they were interested from the jump, from the beginning of the process.

“It was between them and someone else, and the other team kept waiting, waiting, waiting. The White Sox have been interested from the beginning, so I jumped on it. I wanted to get to spring, start throwing, start doing stuff. I was tired of sitting at home.”

Shaw, 35, has a 3.92 ERA over 753 games in 12 seasons, including seven with Cleveland.

Castro returns
Hitting coach José Castro is returning to the White Sox 38 years after concluding four seasons of Minor League playing with the organization in 1985.

“It's awesome, man,” Castro said. “This is the greatest game in the world for me. To come back here 38 years later, the same year that I married, and still married to a wonderful lady. My best friend. I'm getting goosebumps right now thinking about it.”