manager, was unable to decide which one would be the ace, he flipped a coin to determine who would be number one. Hernández won the toss. Affeldt was placed on the disabled list after only four games with blister problems again. His time on the DL was brief and he returned to the Royals on May 6. On May 28, he struck out a career high eight batters in a win against the Minnesota Twins. Later, on June 6, he notched his first hit. Affeldt's final start of the year came on July 23, in a game he won against Minnesota. After the start, the Royals moved him to the bullpen to try to fix his blister problems. The move was originally thought to be temporary. While in the bullpen, on August 3, he got his career first save in a 2–0 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. On August 21, the Royals announced that Affeldt would spend the rest of the year in the bullpen. Two days later, he got another save against Minnesota. He picked up two more saves before the end of the year and finished with a 7–6 record and a 3.93 ERA. After the season, to try to help with his blister problems, he had part of a fingernail on the middle finger of his left hand removed. Also, the Royals announced that if he developed blister problems again, he would be sent to the bullpen for good. 2004 In 2004, Affeldt was named the Royals' third starter out of Spring training. He went 0–3 with a 5.24 ERA in eight starts. His final start of came on May 18 against the Texas Rangers. Affeldt gave up five runs in four innings and received a no–decision in a 7–6 victory by the Royals. Afterwards, although his blister problems had not resurfaced, manager Tony Peña named him the Royals closer on May 21 due to poor pitching and injury problems with the other Royals closers. Affeldt blew his first save opportunity of 2004 against the Oakland Athletics on May 22, but he converted in his next outing on May 25 against the Detroit Tigers. He converted eight of ten save opportunities before he was placed on the disabled list on June 27 with a partially torn rib–cage muscle. He was out for almost eight weeks. After making four rehab appearances for AAA Omaha, Affeldt returned