Surprise, Ariz. ? Jeremy Affeldt and Denny Bautista will be the Kansas City Royals’ fourth and fifth starters, manager Buddy Bell said Saturday.

Mike Wood, the third candidate for a rotation slot, will begin the season in the bullpen, where he has pitched before. Bell previously had selected Scott Elarton, Runelvys Hernandez and Joe Mays for the other three starting pitching spots.

“Denny has never pitched out of the bullpen,” Bell said. “We weren’t sure what we were going to get out of the bullpen from Denny. We have a pretty good idea of what we’re going to get from Woody. That probably was the deciding factor.”

Wood was 2-0, and his 1.29 earned-run average was the best on the team for pitchers who had at least 10 innings. He also threw six shutout innings in a Class AAA game.

“In Woody’s case, he pitched so good,” Bell said. “It is hard to tell somebody who wanted to be in the rotation so bad that you’re going to the bullpen.”

Injuries to closer Mike MacDougal and starter Mark Redman, plus Zack Greinke leaving camp for personal reasons opened three spots on the staff.

Affeldt was chosen in part because he will be the only left-hander in the rotation, while the Royals already have left-handers Andrew Sisco and Jimmy Gobble in the bullpen, Bell said.

Affeldt has not started since May 2004. He made 49 relief appearances last season. Bautista made just seven starts last season, going 2-2 with a 5.80 ERA, but did not make a major league start after May 11 because of a sore shoulder.

Bell said Bautista might make one start for the Omaha Royals and then be recalled to Kansas City because a fifth starter isn’t needed until April 14. That would allow the Royals to break camp with an extra position player and an 11-man pitching staff.