Bochy close to deciding opening day lineup

Bruce Bochy said Monday that his lineup for the exhibitionopener against the As would be similar to the one he pencils in Friday againstthe Arizona Diamondbacks on opening day.Sitting in his familiar spot in the Giants dugout at AT&T Park, Bochy hadhis first pregame session with reporters since the team returned to SanFrancisco from spring training. While he reserved the right to tweak the lineupbefore opening day, he said that it would be similar to Mondays:Angel Pagan CF
Melky Cabrera RF
Pablo Sandoval 3B
Buster Posey C
Aubrey Huff LF
Brandon Belt 1B
Ryan Theriot 2B
Brandon Crawford SS
Madison Bumgarner LHPWith Posey playing, Hector Sanchez will ride the pine, but Bochy left open thepossibility of having three catchers on the opening day roster, especially withPosey still learning his limitations on a surgically repaired ankle.Its good for Buster to get back to playing here, Bochy said. Springtraining was kind of part of his rehab.While Posey consistently swung the bat well in Arizona, the Giants offensestarted to struggle over the last two weeks of Cactus League action.We slowed down with the bats there, Bochy said. We need to pick it up, getthis offense going.Despite the offensive slump, Bochy said he was happy with his teams effort andhealth after the annual trip to Scottsdale.Bochy reiterated that the plan is to carry 12 pitchers,eight of which will be relievers with Ryan Vogelsong starting the season on thedisabled list. Vogelsong is still on schedule to pitch against the PittsburghPirates on April 15, the first game in which the Giants will need a fifthstarter. Another banged up Giant, Freddy Sanchez, is making progress, according to Bochy,who said his oft-injured second baseman has been getting more comfortablethrowing since receiving a cortisone shot last week.Its been a long road, Bochy said of Sanchezs slow recovery. Hopefullythere wont be another setback.