With just ten days before the Royals open up regular season games against the Chicago White Sox, we have a better idea which 25 players they will carry north. The Royals assigned catcher Cam Gallagher, infielder Ramon Torres, and pitchers Miguel Almonte, Sam Gaviglio, and Trevor Oaks to Omaha over the weekend. Torres and Almonte had been darkhorse candidates to make the squad, with the Almonte looking dominant so far this spring. But those moves bring the remaining roster battles into focus.
The bench battles
The Royals have eight set starters - Salvy at catcher, free agent Lucas Duda at first, Whit at second, “Death, Taxes, and Escobar” at shortstop, Moose at third, and some combination of Alex Gordon, Jon Jay, and Jorge Soler either all in the outfield or with Soler at DH.