Detroit — There isn’t a position group in baseball, in any organization, more fragile and unpredictable than relief pitching. It’s the nature of the beast, really. Sustained excellence is rare — individually and collectively.
It has been especially so for the Tigers, whose bullpen woes this millennium have been well-documented. You can never truly know from year to year — shoot, month to month — how it’s going to go.
A recent example: If Buck Farmer had a minor league option last spring, he would have started the season in Toledo. As it turned out, Farmer had a break-out year and ended up being the Tigers’ set-up man.