White Sox's Blake Rutherford: Focused on bulking up

Rutherford gained 12 pounds of muscle over the offseason, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Rutherford is up to 212 pounds and spoke to the media about the importance of maintaining the positive weight throughout the season. General manager Rich Hahn added that he believes Rutherford built muscle in response to criticism from others over his lack of power in the minor leagues, though Hahn stated that wasn't a concern of the club. Rutherford spent the entirety of the 2019 campaign at Double-A Birmingham, where he hit .265/.319/.365 with seven home runs and nine stolen bases.