Opening day is three weeks away. It’s still too early to read tea leaves into any of the close roster fights. And, usually, there are very few question marks anyway.

It’s not like there’s a fight for, say, shortstop. Yes, Seager might not be ready for opening day and that might open a roster spot temporarily. But it’s not like his spot is in jeopardy. Not is most anyone else’s. There are dead locks for most roster spots.

Jonah Heim and Andres Knizner will be the two catchers. 

Nathanial Lowe, Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Josh Jung is the infield, with Ezequiel Duran as backup. 

Evan Carter, Leody Taveras, Adolis Garcia, and Travis Jankowski will be the outfielders-slash-DHs. Add Wyatt Langford to that.

With thirteen position-player slots, that leaves one slot open with two players deserving it: Justin Foscue and Jared Walsh. Of course, there’s the familiar candidate, Josh Smith, and the newcomer Matt Duffy. 

There are going to be three odd-men out. Maybe Foscue and Smith have an advantage because they are on the forty-man roster. Maybe that knocks out Jared Walsh. Yet, after his 1-for-2 yesterday, he’s batting .412 with an OPS of 1.147. Pretty hard to overlook those numbers, especially with the success of his first two seasons. 

So it really comes down to Foscue, Walsh, Smith, and Duffy. Four players have three weeks to prove they earn that one roster spot. May the best man win. 

*****

TODAY’S GAME

Kansas City vs Texas, 2:05