BRADENTON, Fla. -- Jung Ho Kang has never really had a normal Spring Training with the Pirates. This is no exception.

In 2015, Kang was a heralded Korea Baseball Organization star still adjusting to life in the Majors and the United States. He spent the spring of ‘16 recovering from major surgery on his left knee. Unable to acquire a work visa after a December '16 drunk-driving arrest, Kang remained in South Korea during Spring Training the past two years.

Now, Kang is trying to catch up to speed after essentially missing two years in the prime of his career. But the 31-year-old third baseman likely dispelled some doubts in his first game of the spring.

Kang launched two home runs and handled himself well in the field for five innings during the Pirates’ 10-6 walk-off win over the Marlins on Sunday afternoon at LECOM Park. Kang’s performance evoked memories of his return from the injured list in 2016, when he brushed aside concerns about his surgically repaired left knee by blasting a pair of homers in St. Louis.

“[Bench coach] Tommy Prince and I looked at each other and said, ‘This guy’s crazy.’ He’s capable of crazy, though,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “He’s got a lot of self-confidence. It was his first game, and obviously there will be a lot of talk about his first game.”

The Pirates have reason to temper expectations for Kang despite his .274/.355/.482 slash line and the 36 homers he hit in 232 Major League games. He’ll turn 32 in April, and he has only played a handful of games -- including three in the Majors at the end of last season -- since 2016. Pittsburgh declined his $5.5 million club option this offseason before re-signing him to a $3 million deal with $2.5 million in performance bonuses.

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said last year that Kang will have an “everyday opportunity” if he returns to his 2015-16 form. He’ll have to prove himself throughout Spring Training to claim the starting job at third base over Colin Moran. But if Kang wanted to make a strong first impression, he couldn’t have done much more than he did on Sunday.

“I already know everybody in here, every staff, coach, all the players. I was very used to it,” Kang said through interpreter Jeffrey Kim. “It was comfortable, like home. It felt good playing with the Pirates again.”

In his first at-bat, Kang swatted a home run into the wind and out to left field off right-hander Trevor Richards. He crushed his second homer even farther, sending a pitch from righty Hector Noesi over the boardwalk beyond the left-field fence. In the dugout, Francisco Cervelli joked about Kang being able to hit homers despite being away for “eight years.”

“I prepared well during the wintertime,” Kang said. “That actually helped a lot to keep a good feeling and good shape and strength and everything.”

Last week, Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Kang reported to Spring Training in “the best shape that I’ve seen” since Pittsburgh acquired him. He looks leaner but still strong, and he might be more mobile in the infield now that he’s a few years removed from a significant operation on his left knee.

Kang came in on a soft grounder hit by Miami’s Lewis Brinson and made a quick toss to first baseman Josh Bell for the first out of the game. He went to his right and fired a strong throw across the infield for the last out of the second inning. He quickly shifted to his left in the third, scooping up a grounder hit by the Marlins’ Isan Diaz.

“We’ll continue to play him and watch how it goes and how it progresses,” Hurdle said. “We’ve seen a lot of good lateral movement through all the drill work we’ve done early. This was the first game he got into, and we saw him go extremely well to his left.”