SURPRISE, Ariz. - Jurickson Profar homered off Cole Hamels on the first pitch of his first at-bat of the spring Monday.

And that wasn't the highlight of his day.

Profar made two impressive plays in his first appearance at shortstop in more than two years. In the first inning of the Rangers' intrasquad game, Profar went up the middle on Delino DeShields' grounder to make a diving stop and then threw out the speedy leadoff man on a one-hopper.

It was exactly the scenario Profar had hoped for in his first game action.

"I've worked very, very hard to get back to playing," said Profar, who got up from the play with a wide grin. "This gives me even more push to keep working.

"I feel great," he added. "I feel like I've tested it out on routine balls this spring, but I wanted to show you guys it's there."

In the second inning, Profar ran down a pop fly in shallow left for a sprawling catch to record an out on Hanser Alberto.

The plan for Profar is to work at shortstop all spring, but given that he had not played shortstop in a game since the Dominican Winter League in November, 2013, the club doesn't plan for him to open the season in the majors.

"If I have to go to [Triple-A Round Rock], I will go there," Profar said. "But I know that I've worked hard and I'm going to play somewhere in the big leagues at some point this season."

The homer was a nice start to the spring, but Profar reminded Rangers officials his bat was still there during a stint as a DH in the Arizona Fall League. Batting right-handed against Hamels, he jumped on a first-pitch cutter and pulled it over the left field wall.

Asked about the homer making Profar feel good after his long road back from a shoulder injury, Hamels said: "Hey, I'm a team player."