James Shields set to pitch in the Royals’ Cactus League finale

The Royals clubhouse was calm on Wednesday, their final morning here at Surprise Stadium. Most of the boxes had been packed. A bevy of black suitcases where clustered on one side of the clubhouse, near where the minor-leaguers and non-roster invites were housed when camp began six weeks ago.

The big-leaguers fly to Milwaukee early this evening. They’ll play two games at Miller Park this weekend. But first, there is nine innings of Cactus League ball to slog through.

James Shields will make his final appearance of the spring. He probably won’t go more than four innings. The rest of his major-league teammates will depart with him.

Here is the lineup as the Royals close out their spring in Peoria against the Padres:

1. Nori Aoki, RF.

2. Alcides Escobar, SS.

3. Eric Hosmer, 1B.

4. Billy Butler, DH.

5. Alex Gordon, LF.

6. Salvador Perez, C.

7. Mike Moustakas, 3B.

8. Lorenzo Cain, CF

9. Pedro Ciriaco, 2B.

This story was originally published March 26, 2014 at 11:09 AM with the headline "James Shields set to pitch in the Royals’ Cactus League finale."