Overlooked Cubs infielder lives up to his name with powerful spring training homer

If you had Gage Workman as the man to hit the first Chicago Cubs spring training home run, come on down and collect your prize! The 25-year-old former fifth-rounder made quite the first impression in his Cubs debut as he looks to lock down a spot on the 26-man as a Rule 5 pick from last fall.

With the Cubs up 6-3 at Camelback Ranch, Workman took a 1-1 pitch to left field for an opposite-field, two-run home run. Seeing him do damage not only to the opposite field but off a lefty, as well, is a promising sign from the infielder, who doesn't have a Triple-A at-bat to his name yet in his professional career.

The best part of it all? Workman's middle name - as pointed out on X by Christopher Kamka, is 'Tater'. It feels fitting that his first hit in a Cubs uniform left the yard, doesn't it?

Chicago selected Workman in the Rule 5 Draft this offseason, so he'll have to stick on the MLB roster all season long or the Cubs risk him going back to Detroit for a negligible cost. Last season with Double-A Erie, he really put it together at the plate for the first time, slashing .280/.366/.476 in 556 trips to the plate.

It feels like there's a lot of overlap between Workman and former highly-regarded prospect Vidal Brujan, another offseason pick-up, defensively - so it might come down to who plays better this spring. Brujan does not have any minor-league options left and with the addition of Justin Turner, there could be a roster crunch when it comes to the bench.

What the Cubs can't afford to do is give away at-bats when they turn to non-starters like they did so often in the last two years. The offensive ineptitude of Miles Mastrobuoni and Nick Madrigal was painful to bear witness to - and getting more production from the bench feels like a must if this team is finally going to get over the 83-win hump in 2025.