The KC Royals have finalized their Opening Day roster, with George Kottaras being named the backup catcher. If Salvador Perez stays healthy, I’m not sure how much Kottaras is going to actually play anyway.

Brett Hayes lost the battle, but cleared waivers and took the assignment to Triple-A Omaha. The battle came down to which side of the plate they bat from and the Royals chose to go with the left-handed bat.

Now to today’s final Cactus League game…

In Surprise against Cleveland, the Royals won 5-1. They were out-hit, 11-6. The Royals scored two runs in both the fifth and eighth innings after the score was tied at 1-1.

Four of their six hits were long balls. Alex Gordon led off the first inning with a solo shot. In the 5th inning, both Jeff Francoeur and Elliott Johnson hit solo homeruns. All three of those shots came against starter Ubaldo Jimenez. Cuban minor league outfielder Roman Hernandez hit a solo homerun in the 8th inning off Nick Hagadone.

Lefty Tim Collins picked up the win, as he pitched one scoreless inning of relief. He followed up starter Jeremy Guthrie, who allowed one run on six hits over four innings. After Collins, five relievers pitched shutout baseball.

Next up for the Royals, OPENING DAY in Chicago!

On Friday, the KC Royals claimed catcher George Kottaras off waivers from the Oakland A’s. The addition of Kottaras gives the Royals seven catchers in camp this spring, three on the 40-man roster.

Kottaras began last season with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was then traded to the A’s in July. Down the stretch with the American League West winning A’s, he hit six home runs and drove in 19 in 27 games. Overall, he hit just .211.

After the A’s acquired John Jaso last week, Kottaras became expendable.

To add Kottaras to the 40-man roster, the Royals designated infielder Tony Abreu for assignment. I guess that means veteran Miguel Tejada is a little closer to the back up infielder job.