Rays' Kevin Kiermaier: Looking forward to regular season

Kiermaier is anxious to deploy the new batting stance that's brought him success this spring in the regular season, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports. "I'm just really excited about this year, because I feel like I'm a lot more comfortable with my stance at the plate and that's translated into confidence, into good at-bats," Kiermaier said.

Kiermaier feels the adjustments he's made in the batter's box have facilitated his use of the entire field, which has him heading into 2018 with a great deal of confidence. The 27-year-old set new career highs in home runs (15) and batting average (.276) in 2017, but he continues to head into each season with the mindset of having something to prove. "We're all competitive," he said. "But for me, I always feel like I have something to prove to someone. It goes back to me being a 31st-rounder [in the draft]. Not a whole lot of people thought I was good enough to be taken early. A lot of people passed on me. Same thing with my offense. I always want to prove to people that I can hit."