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The Minnesota Twins made an unexpected roster move on Tuesday afternoon, optioning outfielder Alex Kirilloff to the alternate training site. 

Kirilloff, who made his big-league debut last postseason, entered the spring as the odds-on favorite to serve as Minnesota's most-days left fielder this season. He had a poor spring training, however, batting .129/.182/.258 with two extra-base hits and seven more strikeouts than walks in 33 plate appearances. Suppressing Kirilloff's service time may have also been a consideration, the way it often is with top prospects.

Kirilloff headlined our Twins prospect list over the winter. Here's what we wrote at the time:

Kirilloff made his big-league debut during the playoffs, going 1 for 4 in the Twins' Wild Card Series loss against the Astros. Expect him to get hundreds of more plate appearances during the 2021 season, and expect him to do far more damage. Kirilloff has the potential to hit for average and power, which will be more pivotal to him than the standard high-ranked hitting prospect: he's never walked in as much as nine percent of his plate appearances as a professional. Defensively, Kirilloff has enough arm strength to man right, though he could end up sliding to first base on a permanent basis as he matures.

"If we need Alex on the second day of the year because something happens and that's the right move, I don't think we'd hesitate to make that move," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "It's a situation where he's going to get himself locked in, ready to go for when we call his name."

Barring an additional move over the coming week-plus, the Twins will instead begin the year with a platoon featuring Jake Cave and Kyle Garlick. Cave is entering his fourth season with the Twins. He's a career .265/.338/.465 hitter against right-handed pitchers. Garlick, meanwhile, was a recent waiver claim. In a limited sample of 41 plate appearances, he's posted a .845 OPS against left-handed pitching.

The Twins will enter the season as the favorites in the American League Central. SportsLine's projections have Minnesota winning 92 games, giving them a 52 percent chance at winning the division.