Royals host Lincecum, Giants

Will Eli Whiteside hit two home runs today? Please…

But Whiteside is today’s starting catcher and he will thrown down signs for Tim Lincecum who is set to make his third Cactus League start today for the Giants (7-3-1) as he takes on the Kansas City Royals (5-4) at Surprise Stadium.

The Royals took two out of three from the Giants last spring.

Lincecum has the worst ERA on the team, at 13.50. Couple that with the fact that Giants catchers not named Buster Posey have accounted for four home runs in the past two days and you have a tale that’s stranger than fiction.

The game can be hear at sfgiants.com starting at 1:05 p.m. (PT).

Today’s starting lineups…

San Francisco (7-3-1):
1. Blanco (cf)
2. F. Sanchez (DH)
3. Schierholtz (rf)
4. Pill (1b)
5. Gillaspie (3b)
6. Arais (2b)
7. Crawford (ss)
8. Whiteside (c)
9. Burriss (2b)

Starting pitcher: T. Lincecum (0-0, 13.50)

Kansas City (7-2):
1. Dyson (cf)
2. Escobar (ss)
3. Hosmer (1b)
4. Gordon (lf)
5. Moustakas (3b)
6. Francoeur (rf)
7. Perez (DH)
8. Pena (c)
9. Getz (2b)

Starting pitcher: L. Hochevar (0-0, 0.00)

Pre-game notes: Also scheduled to pitch for the Giants today are Santiago Casilla, Andrew Kown, Wilmin Rodriguez, and Jean Machi … The Giants trimmed their Cactus League roster by six today, sending pitchers Jake Dunning, Austin Fleet, Stephen Harrold, David Quinowski, Seth Rosin, and Shawn Sanford to their minor league camp. More on that here … According to Carl Steward of the San Jose Mercury News, second baseman Freddy Sanchez (who will DH in today’s game), was fielding grounders at second base this morning, taking the flip at shortstop and making relays to first base—all positive signs in Freddy’s recovery from shoulder surgery. The Giants hope to get The Mole some time at second base in a game later this week … San Francisco is running wild on the base paths as a team this spring.  They’ve swiped 14 bases and have been caught 11 times (56 percent). Outfielder Gregor Blanco leads the team with five steals and outfielder Nate Schierholtz has the second-most with two.

League leaders: Several Giants players rank among the best in baseball this spring. Take a look:

• Batting average — Cabrera (.542, 1st in NL, 4th overall); Blanco (.474, 2nd in NL, 7th overall)
• Home runs — Cabrera and H.Sanchez (3, tied for MLB lead)
• Runs batted in — Cabrera (9, 1st in NL, 2nd overall); H.Sanchez (8, tied for 2nd in NL)
• Wins — Zito(2, tied for most in MLB)

As a team, the Giants rank 5th in the NL (and 11th overall) with a 3.49 team ERA. They are tied for first overall (with Toronto, Seattle, and Oakland) with 7 wins. Giants pitchers rank first in the NL (and 3rd overall) with 78 strikeouts.

The Giants (.326) are second only to the Angels in batting (.343). They rank second behind Seattle (74) in runs scored this spring with 73.

San Francisco leads all teams with 125 hits, 30 doubles, and 70 RBI. They rank second overall in home runs with 15 (Detroit has 18 HR).

San Francisco Giants hitters have struck out just 53 times in 424 total plate appearances (1:8); that’s 22nd overall out of 30 teams (or 8th-best).

The Giants have 14 stolen bases, most in the NL and second only to the Red Sox (who have 15 steals). They have attempted 25 steals, six more than the Red Sox and Mariners. They are second in baseball with five triples, third in on-base percentage (.376), first in slugging (.543), and first in OPS (.919).

To give you an idea how incredible that on-base plus slugging (OPS) number is, consider this: Only one Giant last year finished with an OPS over .900 (Pablo Sandoval, 0.909). Schierholtz was second with a 0.756 OPS. The Giants as a team are at 0.919 this spring. Amazing.

Innings by position: Below are the number of innings that each player has logged at his position(s), through the Giants’ first 10 Cactus League games.

C — Stewart (28),  Whiteside (22), H. Sanchez (15), J. Williams (10), Susac (9), Joseph (6), Posey (6)
1B — Pill (34), Belt (27), Huff (16), Dominguez (13), Oropesa (3), Anders (3)
2B — Burriss (24), Theriot (18), Fontenot (15), Panik (15), Noonan (14), Arias (10)
3B — Gillaspie (40), Sandoval (37), Dominguez (12), Noonan (4), Burriss (3)
SS — Crawford (33), Arias (26), Theriot (17), Adrianza (12), Burriss (4), Panik (4)
LF — Cabrera (26), Christian (24), Perez (12), Graham (8), Belt (6), Burriss (5), Huff (5), Parker (5), Pill (5)
CF — Pagan (33), Brown (27), Blanco (14), Graham (12), Cabrera (10)
RF — Schierholtz (27), Blanco (20), Kieschnick (17), Perez (10), Belt (10), Graham (9), Parker (3)