Luis Mendoza

The competition to become the No. 5 starter for the Kansas City Royals in 2013 began with five names: Luke Hochevar, Bruce Chen, Luis Mendoza, Will Smith and Yordano Ventura. With less than a week before Opening Day, the team has announced a winner.

Coming off a season that yielded just 72 wins, it may surprise some that the Kansas City Royals entered spring training with very few positions up for grabs.

Still, they need to decide who will be pegged to see the most time at second base, and who will emerge as the team’s fifth starter.