The St. Louis Cardinals officially took the reins off hard-throwing youngster Carlos Martinez on Monday by naming him the fifth starter of the rotation.

Martinez, who's pitched mostly in relief during parts of two seasons in the majors, was informed of the decision by manager Mike Matheny prior to the Cardinals' 6-2 win over the Washington Nationals. Matheny, who shared the news with reporters after the game, said Martinez has pined for the job all winter long.

"It is my dream," Matheny recalled Martinez saying during offseason conversations.

Martinez entered camp this spring determined to refine his control and pitch to more efficient results. The 23-year-old right-hander struck out 84 batters in 89 1/3 innings between the bullpen and rotation last year, but his command limited him to an average of under five innings per start.

"I've been working hard," Martinez told reporters earlier this spring. "Some of the outings haven't gone as good as I've wanted to, but I'm just trying to learn from that and get better every day."

Martinez, who pitched to a 3.94 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 16 innings this spring, had been battling for the final spot with left-hander Marco Gonzales. Matheny said Gonzales will report to Class AAA Memphis to start the season.