Royals undecided on final bullpen spots
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KANSAS CITY -- The Royals still have not set their Opening Day roster and likely will take the final decisions down to the wire before Thursday's 10:30 a.m. CT deadline.
After the news of catcher Salvador Perez's MCL tear in his left knee, Royals manager Ned Yost said Cam Gallagher likely would be called up to be Drew Butera's backup at catcher.
• Salvy out 4-6 weeks with MCL tear
Yost also said the Royals still haven't decided on the final bullpen spots, where it would appear left-handers Brian Flynn, Tim Hill, and Eric Skoglund and right-handers Wily Peralta and Rule 5 acqusition Burch Smith are competing for three open spots.
Those seemingly locked into bullpen roster spots are Kelvin Herrera, Brandon Maurer, Justin Grimm, Blaine Boyer and Brad Keller.
The Royals also need to clear two open spots on the 40-man roster for infielder Ryan Goins and Boyer, both of whom were non-roster invitees to Spring Training.
Yost also wasn't ready to reveal his 3-4-5 starters. Those had been Jason Hammel, Nate Karns and Jakob Junis during Spring Training.
"You'll find out [Thursday]," Yost said.
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Yost did reveal his starting batting order for Thursday's 3:15 p.m. CT game against the White Sox:
1. Jon Jay, LF
- Whit Merrifield, 2B
- Mike Moustakas, 3B
- Lucas Duda, 1B
- Cheslor Cuthbert, DH
- Jorge Soler, RF
- Alex Gordon, CF
- Alcides Escobar, SS
- Drew Butera, C