With only five days to go before the regular season begins, Taiwanese pitcher Chien-Ming Wang has survived several rounds of cuts and still has a shot at making the opening day roster for the Kansas City Royals. Meanwhile, fellow Taiwanese pitcher Wei-Yin Chen has been named the Miami Marlins' opening-day starter.

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Wang's fate depends on how many pitchers manager Ned Yost decides to break camp with. If Yost takes 12 arms to the Royal's April 3rd matchup against the New York Mets, there is a strong possibility that Wang will be in the bullpen.

If Yost goes with a pitching staff of 11, Wang will most likely start out in AAA Omaha. Even so - barring injury - the 36-year-old right-hander is expected to see time in big leagues soon.

Wang came out of nowhere this spring, shocking the baseball world with his 95-MPH sinker and strong performance. In 13 innings Wang has posted a stellar 2.08 ERA and 1.15 WHIP.

It has been a long road back for Wang, who has not appeared in more than 15 major league games since 2007, when he won 19 games for the New York Yankees.

Meanwhile, Wei-Yin Chen is slated to start the Marlins' opener on April 5. He will make history as the first Taiwanese pitcher to start an MLB opening day game.

The 30-year-old had his most recent tune-up game rained out, but still managed to throw 95 pitches in a simulated game. Manager Don Mattingly plans to give him one more spring training start to prepare for opening day versus the Detroit Tigers.

At the start of spring training, there was one other Taiwanese pitcher competing to make an MLB roster - Milwaukee Brewers' lefty Wei-Chung Wang. He pitched 1/3 of an inning on March 6, but he hasn't seen any action since. 

TagsMLB spring training, Chein-ming wang, wei-yin chen, MLB opening day, kansas city royals