Now that spring training has concluded and a scheduled Wednesday workout has pa sed, the Kansas City Royals are officially ready for Opening Day.It's a highly-anticipated season for the Royals, who are and outperform their projections in 2022. The club has plenty of young talent either already at the major league level or slated to join their peers soon. They have a developing Don Mattingly Jersey starting rotation headlined by veteran Zack Greinke, as well as a flamethrowing bullpen and a lineup that could be poised for an improvement this year.On Thursday, the Royals are at Kauffman Stadium and will be hosting their American League Central rivals, the Cleveland Guardians. The Guardians have a rock-solid pitching staff and will be aiming to stay afloat well enough to compete in a top-heavy division. Shane Bieber takes the mound for the third year in a DJ LeMahieu Jersey row as the Guardians seek an Opening Day road win before an off day and three more games following that to close out the first series of the year.Here's how the Royals will line up in this afternoon's game:Kansas City: RHP Zack Greinke (0-0, 0.00 ERA)Cleveland: RHP Shane Bieber (0-0, 0.00 ERA)Scroll to ContinueKansas City Royals Starting LineupWhit Merrifield (R) - RFBobby Witt Jr. (R) - 3BAndrew Benintendi (L) - LFSalvador Perez (R) - CCarlos Santana (S) - 1BHunter Dozier (R) - DHAdalberto Mondesi (S) - SSMichael A. Taylor (R) - CFNicky Lopez (L) - 2BSpeculation ceased after the team announced that Bobby Witt Jr. would be making the roster to open the season, but it remained to be seen whose spot he would be taking on the 40-man roster. On Thursday morning, the club announced that left-handed pitcher Daniel Tillo would be designated for a signment. This opens a spot for Witt just in time for Opening Day Gleyber Torres Jersey .Tillo, 25, has pitched in 85 games with the Royals' minor league affiliates thus far in his profe sional career. He boasts a 15-20 record with a 4.25 ERA and 244 strikeouts in 330-2/3 innings. The University of Kentucky alum made it up to Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2021, to sing 22-1/3 innings of ball with a 4.63 ERA.In addition to designating Tillo for a signment on Thursday, the . Right-handed reliever Joel Payamps is on the Family Medical Emergency List, which opens up a spot on the 28-man roster. The Royals have through the end of the month Tyler Austin Jersey before they must cut their amount of carried bodies down to 26, temporarily leaving the door ajar for players who may not have previously made the cut.Three players who jump out are Kyle Isbel, Edward Olivares and Dylan Coleman. All three stood decent chances to make the team and were even , although Coleman seemed to be the po sible odd man out until the Payamps designation came through. The hard-throwing righty will add power to the back end of the Royals Mariano Rivera Jersey ' bullpen, and both Isbel and Olivares will look to add depth to the team's crowded outfield rotation.Follow AlongFirst Pitch: 3:10 p.m. CSTTV:Bally Sports Kansas CityRadio: KCSP 610 AM
