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A Guide to Lugnuts in Spring Training

February 24, 2020

Is baseball back? In a way, yes. Spring training exhibition games began over the weekend in the Grapefruit League (Florida) and Cactus League (Arizona).The late Ernie Harwell, a member of the Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame, annually opened the spring training schedule with Song of Solomon 2:11 - 2:12.There are

Is baseball back? In a way, yes. Spring training exhibition games began over the weekend in the Grapefruit League (Florida) and Cactus League (Arizona).
The late Ernie Harwell, a member of the Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame, annually opened the spring training schedule with Song of Solomon 2:11 - 2:12.

There are over 50 former Lugnuts currently in and around Major League camps, whether on 40-man rosters or non-roster invitees to spring training. (This doesn't include the handful of Minor Leaguers called in each day to provide emergency depth.) Wherever you are, you'll find Nuts.
To separate by team:

  • Arizona - Tim Locastro, Travis Snider
  • Baltimore - Miguel Castro, Dwight Smith Jr
  • Boston - Kevin Pillar, Marcus Walden
  • Chicago Cubs - Ryan Tepera
  • Chicago White Sox - Jimmy Cordero
  • Cincinnati - Anthony DeSclafani, Justin Shafer
  • Colorado - Tim Collins, Jesus Tinoco
  • Detroit - Matthew Boyd, Dawel Lugo, Daniel Norris
  • Houston - Roberto Osuna
  • Kansas City - Conner Greene, Ryan McBroom
  • L.A. Angels - Taylor Cole
  • Miami - Jon Berti, Christian Lopes
  • Milwaukee - Angel Perdomo
  • Minnesota - Rich Hill, Peter Mooney
  • N.Y. Mets - Jake Marisnick, Noah Syndergaard
  • Oakland - Ryan Goins, Carlos Pèrez
  • San Diego - Edward Olivares
  • Seattle - Kendall Graveman
  • St. Louis - Lane Thomas
  • Texas - Robinson Chirinos
  • Toronto - Anthony Alford, Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Ryan Borucki, Andy Burns, Jonathan Davis, Yennsy Diaz, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk, Nash Knight, Patrick Murphy, Josh Palacios, Sean Reid-Foley, Jordan Romano, Marc Rzepczynski, Kevin Smith, Kirby Snead, Rowdy Tellez, Ty Tice, T.J. Zeuch
  • Washington - Yan Gomes

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Of those players, let's spotlight two:
Outfielder Jake Marisnick, a 2011 Midwest League Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star, was traded from the Houston Astros, where he was a valued role player as a defensive replacement and platoon hitter, to the New York Mets, where he is expected to play every day.
He's already made a good impression, taking Adam Wainwright deep.

The second player is catcher Alejandro Kirk, who played for the Lugnuts last April and finished the year in Dunedin. Kirk is expected to play in Double-A New Hampshire this year. Still, he's getting a taste of MLB Spring Training and quickly winning over Blue Jays fans.
In his first at-bat, he lined a clean base hit, and then advanced to second on a dirt read. (Check out those wheels!)


And in his second game, he outright ended the game:

149 former Lugnuts have made the Major Leagues entering the 2020 season. Could Kirk become No. 150? Or will it be another player currently making an impression to remember in Major League camp?