Kansas City's David Dejesus breaks his bat on a pitch. DeJesus took batting practice Tuesday in Surprise, Ariz. He is slated to bat lead off for the Royals this season.

Surprise, Ariz. ? Royals manager Buddy Bell knows who will be his first four hitters, but the rest of Kansas City’s batting order still hasn’t been determined.

Bell said center fielder David DeJesus would lead off, with second baseman Mark Grudzielanek hitting second. Converted right fielder Mark Teahen, who hit .290 with a team-leading 18 home runs last season, will bat third, and designated hitter Mike Sweeney will bat cleanup.

“What happens after that we’ve kind of tinkered with,” Bell said Tuesday.

Left fielder Emil Brown, who led the team in RBIs the past two seasons, first baseman Ryan Shealy and third baseman Alex Gordon will probably bat 5-6-7, but in what order has not been decided.

Gordon was the Texas League player of the year with a .325 average, 29 home runs and 101 RBIs, but he has never batted in the majors.

“If Alex makes our club, what do you do there? Where does he get protected?” Bell said. “If he hits lower in the lineup, he is probably not as protected as you want him to be. But do you want to put that much pressure on him (batting higher)? I really don’t think you can put too much pressure on this kid. I really don’t.

“Behind closed doors between us coaches, I think there is a little bit of a disagreement where he possibly hits. There are two schools of thought as far as protecting him and as far as pressure. We’ll figure all that out as times goes on.”

Bell said Gordon would bat seventh in the exhibition opener Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels.

When the season starts, Bell could insert Gordon into the sixth slot and have Shealy hit behind him. Shealy hit .280 with seven home runs and 36 RBIs in 51 games with the Royals after being acquired in a July 31 trade with the Colorado Rockies.

John Buck, who hit .245 with 11 home runs last season, and Jason LaRue, a career .239 hitter in seven seasons with Cincinnati, are battling for the No. 1 catching job. Whoever wins that would probably bat eighth, with Angel Berroa, who hit just .234 last season, batting ninth.

“We do have some options if everybody is healthy,” Bell said.

Keeping Sweeney, a career .302 hitter who is 10 home runs shy of 200, is a priority. Sweeney played in only 60 games last year because of a bulging disk.

Bell said Sweeney would not play in a spring training game until “probably Monday or Tuesday,” and will have only limited spring training appearances so he will be ready for the April 2 opener with Boston.

“I think it is really important that he get through this spring training without any mishaps,” Bell said. “I’m just going to be careful with him.”