Baseball will officially be underway on Saturday, as pitchers and catchers for the San Francisco Giants report to Spring Training in Arizona. We've got a list of all of the battery players who are scheduled to report right here for you.
Returning Starting Pitchers:
Tim Lincecum
Matt Cain
Madison Bumgarner
Ryan Vogelsong
Barry Zito
Eric Surkamp
Returning Relievers:
Jeremy Affeldt
Santiago Casilla
Javier Lopez
Guillermo Mota
Sergio Romo
Dan Runzler
Brian Wilson
40-Man Roster Pitchers:
Hector Correa
Steve Edlefsen
Clay Hensley
Danny Otero
Non-Roster Invitee Pitchers:
Travis Blackley
Brian Burres
Jake Dunning
Justin Fitzgerald
Austin Fleet
Stephen Harrold
Heath Hembree
Andrew Kown
Mitch Lively
Shane Loux
Jean Machi
Ramon Ortiz
David Quinowski
Wilmin Rodriguez
Seth Rosin
Shawn Sanford
Matt Yourkin
Catchers:
Buster Posey
Hector Sanchez
Chris Stewart
Eli Whiteside
Non-Roster Catcher Invitees:
Tommy Joseph
Andrew Susac
Jackson Williams
With the pitchers, there are no real surprises among the starters, as the rotation appears set. It will be worth keeping an eye on how well Surkamp performs in Spring Training, to see whether he is improving or could be a viable call-up should something go wrong with the starting five. Minor league prospects like Edlefsen and Hembree could force Runzler out of his spot in the bullpen, unless they are still attempting to transition him to a starting role.
On the catcher front, it should be a heated three-way battle between Sanchez, Stewart and Whiteside to see who starts the season as Posey's backup. It would be safe to say that, barring an extreme case of Bochyball breaking out, Whiteside is the odd man out there. If Sanchez's bat outshines Stewart's in Arizona, he may find himself with the job.
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