Oliver Is Odds-On Favorite For No. 5 Spot

 

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier

Coming into spring training the Tigers had five different candidates to evaluate for the No. 5 spot in their starting pitching rotation; left-handed pitcher Andy Oliver, LHP Duane Below, LHP Drew Smyly, LHP Casey Crosby and RHP Jacob Turner. Most teams across the league would love to be in the Tigers situation, having nothing else to worry about on their roster other than which young talented pitcher will be the No. 5 pitcher.

At the beginning of spring it was anyone's guess as to which pitcher would be tapped to be the No. 5 or if Detroit would simply just go out and trade for a veteran. Turner's name popped up early, he faired well in his few spot starts in the majors last season but so far this spring he hasn't done as well. In his four innings pitched he has a 3.00 WHIP and an 11.25 ERA. His six walks of the spring are an indication that he doesn't have as good of control as he did last season and will most likely begin the season in Toledo.

Drew Smyly was the next "probable" No. 5 - he was a lefty, he had solid stuff and General Manager Dave Dombrowski has an affinity for promoting players to the majors from Double-A. Smyly has struggled to get innings this spring, having appeared in just two games and started only one. However, he has still gathered four inning of work and in that time posted a 1.25 WHIP, slightly higher than one would like, and a 2.25 ERA. With a 1/3 BB/K rate Smyly could still be a dark horse for the No. 5 spot, but more likely than not he will be bumped from Double-A Erie to Triple-A Toledo after the spring.

The player who has stood out the most this spring has been Andy Oliver. Oliver has had time in the majors before but has never been able to make it stick, but that may be changing this spring in Lakeland, Fla. Despite having not yet started a game this spring, Oliver has amassed seven innings of work and recorded a 0.57 WHIP and a perfect 0.00 ERA. He has shown that he has control of his pitches having walked three batters and fanned five. His GO/AO, ground outs/air outs, is 0.88 which is an indication that he has his pitches biting and is getting opponents to hit ground balls to the infielders.

Manager Jim Leyland said that the control that Oliver has demonstrated so far this spring is more impressive than what he showed in the majors in the past. Leyland said Oliver was "getting better. No question."

Like It Or Not - Brandon Inge Likely to Start at 2B

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier

Brandon Inge didn't have a good 2011, but according to him was going to "stop being nice" in the future years and improve his hitting while manning his position at third base. That was before Mike Illich spend nearly a quarter of a billion dollars on a new first baseman. The addition of Prince Fielder posed a problem for the Tigers, who now had to find a place for American League batting champion, Miguel Cabrera.

That problem was fixed when Manager Jim Leyland and General Manager Dave Dombrowski agreed that moving Cabrera to third was the best choice for the team - that move may have been good for the Tigers but not so good for Inge. During the press conference to announce Fielder, the question came up about Inge and Leyland told the media crowd that Inge "was not a happy camper" in regards to being displaced from third.

As Spring Training approached Inge was trying to find a way that he could still contribute to the club and play every day - third base was occupied, as was short stop and catcher, first base was also out of the question which left one place, second base. Second base has been a problem for the Tigers for some time now, with Leyland being content to head into the season with a platoon of Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago.

When it became known that Inge was intending on competing for the second base job a good portion of Tiger-nation let out a groan. He was the last to arrive in Lakeland, Fla. for Spring Training but has been given his shot at the second base position and if you believe Dombrowski, Inge has been All-Star quality. MLB Radio talked to Dombrowski about Inge playing second base earlier this week.

During Spring Training, Inge has made one start at second in a game against the Atlanta Braves in which he made a couple solid defensive plays. But his defensive ability was never what made Tigers fans boo him during the season or groan when they heard his name announced to come to the plate during a rally - to say Inge struggle with the bat last season is an understatement.

Dombrowski has said that Inge has been very good offensively and he has been using the whole field when he hits. But he preferenced that statement by saying that they didn't want to get carried away but went on to say that if Inge keeps up his performance he could get "a lot" of playing time this season.

So like it or not, it appears as though Inge will work his magic once again and find his way back into the every day lineup - which could either be a very good thing defensively for the Tigers or very bad for the Tigers offensively. Only time will tell whether or not Inge will be the every day second baseman out of Spring Training.