SURPRISE, Ariz. - If Hideo Nomo succeeds in his comeback attempt with the Royals, it will be as a reliever, not a starter.

The 39-year-old was informed of the decision Sunday in a meeting with manager Trey Hillman, one day after he gave up five runs and seven hits, including a three-run homer, in three innings against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Hillman said Brett Tomko, John Bale, Luke Hochevar, Kyle Davies and Jorge De La Rosa are ahead of Nomo for two open spots in the Royals rotation.

“Plain and simple, we’re not going to consider him a starter,” Hillman said. “We wanted to do what we felt like was the right thing to do and being honest with him right now in our evaluation.

“We asked him what his wishes were with less than two weeks left in Arizona, and if he felt like he wanted to go elsewhere and compete for a starting role. We wanted to make sure he was comfortable that he had the option to do that ... or stay here to compete for a bullpen role.”

Nomo — who struck out five Brewers without a walk — has struck out 11 in 11 innings, allowing 17 hits. He is 1-0 with a 5.73 ERA.

“He choose to stay here, which was exciting to me,” Hillman said.

There are, however, few openings in the Royals bullpen, which includes Joakim Soria as the closer and Yasuhiko Yabuta as a possible right-handed setup.

Nomo, who has a 123-109 record and is the winningest Japanese pitcher in major-league history, has made only two relief appearances in 320 games.

He had not pitched in the majors since 2005, going 5-8 with a 7.24 ERA in 19 starts with Tampa Bay. He had elbow surgery in 2006 and did not pitch at all last season.

Hillman said he did not talk to Nomo about possibly going to the minors if he does not earn a bullpen spot. Nomo did not talk to the media.

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