Right-handed reliever Kyle Funkhouser isn't exactly Casey Mize or Tarik Skubal — the 24-year-old starting pitchers with innings limits this season — but the Detroit Tigers are still taking a cautious approach with one of their most promising bullpen arms.
Manager AJ Hinch wants Mize, Skubal, Funkhouser and other pitchers without an abundance of big-league experience to pitch through September, but he doesn't want to risk injuries by overtaxing them in the jump from a 60-game schedule in 2020 to 162 games in 2021.
There's not an exact science to the process.