SURPRISE, Ariz. Johnny Giavotella opens the spring as manager Ned Yost&#x92;s preferred option to replace departed Melky Cabrera as the No. 2 hitter in the Royals&#x92; lineup.</p><p>Giavotella&#x92;s place in the projected lineup between leadoff hitter Alex Gordon and No. 3 Eric Hosmer depends, largely, on his ability to hold onto his job as the club&#x92;s starting second baseman. And to do that, he has to hit.</p><p>If he hits, Giavotella should provide the lineup with its best fit for a No. 2 hitter &#x97; a spot he filled often in four minor-league seasons, including last year when he batted .338 with a .390 on-base percentage in 110 games at Class AAA Omaha.</p><p>&#x93;He fits the spot because he has the ability to take pitches,&#x94; Yost said. &#x93;He&#x92;s a guy who can drive the ball the other way, and he&#x92;s a guy who can hit. This kid has hit everywhere. If it works out, and hopefully it works out, he&#x92;s the best candidate.&#x94;</p><p>Replacing Cabrera&#x92;s production is the biggest offensive question facing the Royals as they prepare for Saturday&#x92;s first full-squad workout. He batted .305 with 18 homers and 87 RBIs before going to the Giants in a Nov. 7 trade for pitcher Jonathan Sanchez.</p><p>Giavotella batted just .247 with a .273 on-base percentage last year in 46 big-league games following his Aug. 5 promotion from Omaha. A repeat of those struggles is likely to land him back in Omaha.</p><p>The Royals braced themselves for that possibility by signing free-agent Yuniesky Betancourt in the offseason to pair with Chris Getz as alternatives to Giavotella.</p><p>&#x93;Look at (Giavotella&#x92;s) track record,&#x94; general manager Dayton Moore cautioned. &#x93;He usually starts off slow to the point where he&#x92;s buried. Then he gets out of it, and he&#x92;s pretty good. Now, last year was different. He&#x92;s got to hit (to hold a starting job).&#x94;</p><p>Tentatively, the rest of the lineup is already set.</p><p>&#x93;If we were playing a spring training game today,&#x94; Yost said, &#x93;Gordo would be leading off. We&#x92;re probably going to start spring training with Gordo hitting first, Gio hitting second, Hos and Billy (Butler) hitting three and four.&#x94;</p><p>Yost plans for Mike Moustakas and Jeff Francoeur to share the No. 5 and No. 6 spots. The lefty-hitting Moustakas will bat fifth against right-handed pitchers but drop to sixth against left-handers.</p><p>The bottom of the order projects as Sal Perez, Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar. It all fits together if Giavotella hits. If not, well, the Royals will deal with that when they have to.</p><p>Other things to watch this spring:</p><p>Gordon should draw some time at first base. </p><p>&#x93;Our backup first baseman is almost always going to be our designated hitter,&#x94; Yost said. &#x93;We&#x92;ll use Gordo over there a little bit to be protected in case our first baseman gets hurt in the early innings of a game.</p><p>&#x93;That way, instead of losing the DH, we can just put Gordo there and put another outfielder into left field. You hope you never have to do it, but you&#x92;re better off being prepared.&#x94;</p><p>Butler will also draw increased time at first base, which limits Hosmer&#x92;s workload by using him on occasion as the designated hitter. Butler started just three games last year at first following Hosmer&#x92;s arrival on May 6.</p><p>&#x93;Billy deserves it,&#x94; Yost said. &#x93;He&#x92;s worked his (backside) off. He&#x92;s put himself in that position. Now, I&#x92;m not thinking of playing him there four days a week, but he&#x92;ll play there some.</p><p>&#x93;That will give Hos an occasional break. That&#x92;s just a half-a-day off, but it&#x92;s still a half-a-day. He&#x92;s a real durable kid who can play every day, but it will still be good to give him some days where he&#x92;s only the DH.&#x94;</p><p>Betancourt will spend time at second, short and third base through the spring and into the season.</p><p>&#x93;Our goal going into this year,&#x94; Yost said, &#x93;is to make sure everybody is strong in September. There will be days when he&#x92;ll play third base (over Moustakas) against tough left-handed pitchers.</p><p>&#x93;We won&#x92;t kill Escobar this year because we don&#x92;t have to. We&#x92;ve got a guy who can play short. There will be days, whoever the second baseman is, that Yuni will play for them.&#x94;