First round of Royals roster cuts include Scott Barlow, Hunter Dozier and Kyle Zimmer

The Royals' roster began to take shape Monday night as the team announced 15 players had been optioned to minor-league camp.

Among those assigned to Class AAA Omaha were pitchers Scott Barlow, Heath Fillmyer, Andres Machado, Eric Stout and Kyle Zimmer and infielder Hunter Dozier.

Dozier entered the spring a potential candidate for the job at first base. But the Royals signed Lucas Duda to replace Eric Hosmer as the everyday first baseman, essentially ending Dozier's chances at a 25-man roster spot.

"He lost out on 500 at-bats last year," Royals assistant general manager J.J. Picollo said. "It won’t be a bad thing for him to be in Triple A. … He’ll catch up quickly because he was certainly on track prior to 2017 to be in the big leagues at this point. Just the injuries held him back."

In addition, infielder Samir Duenez was optioned to Class AA Northwest Arkansas and catcher Meibrys Viloria was assigned to Class A-Advanced Wilmington.

Pitchers Scott Blewett and Foster Griffin, catcher Chase Vallot, infielders Jack Lopez and Nicky Lopez and outfielders Donnie Dewees and Terrance Gore were also optioned to minor-league camp.

That leaves 51 players, including 17 non-roster invitees, on the Royals' spring-training roster. The number does not include outfielder Jorge Bonifacio, who was suspended for 80 games on Saturday after testing positive for Boldenone, or pitcher Jesse Hahn, who was placed on the 60-day disabled list because of a sprained UCL in his right elbow.

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This story was originally published March 12, 2018 at 11:38 PM with the headline "First round of Royals roster cuts include Scott Barlow, Hunter Dozier and Kyle Zimmer."