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Tellez improved his training regimen and altered his hitting mechanics over the winter in an effort to secure a spot on the Blue Jays' 26-man roster this spring, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

While his listed weight didn't change much, Tellez estimates that he lost 15 pounds of fat and added back 14 pounds of muscle as a result of a more focused workout routine. "It was way more condensed into a few things that I wanted to work on to better myself," Tellez said Saturday. "One of those was to build strength within my core and hips. I got stronger in there, which forced me to lean out." The 24-year-old also shortened his swing to try to make more contact and allow his natural strength to produce his power rather than try to launch a homer every at-bat. Whether Tellez heads north with a backup 1B/DH role will depend as much on how the team plans to cover the rest of the diamond defensively as it does on his own performance this spring, but even if he begins the year back at Triple-A Buffalo, he could still end up playing a big part in the 2020 campaign -- especially if Travis Shaw hasn't solved his issues at the plate from last year.

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