Russell will return to baseball after a break of over two years and will compete for a minor-league job with the Royals in spring training, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

Russell was a first-round pick by the Royals back in 2015, but severe confidence issues forced him to step away from the game after throwing just two innings in 2016. Russell is still just 22 years old, and the talent that made him the 21st overall pick is still there, but expectations should be very low for a player who hasn't pitched above rookie ball and has been out of the game for so long.

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