Now…on to what may be the Achilles’ heel of this team. If there is one area of concern that this incredible team does have, it would have to be all of the question marks surrounding the bullpen. Even prior to the injuries of Fernando Rodney, and the flame-throwing Joel Zumaya, the Tigers have a couple of serious spots to fill when the open up in less than a week.
Optimism aside, it is obvious that someone is going to step up and have a big year. Be it either of their newly acquired pair in Denny Bautista or Francisco Cruceta, one of their vets, (Zach Miner, Jason Grilli, Bobby Seay or Tim Byrdak) someone needs to maximize on their potential and shine for this team meet their expectations as a whole.
They aren’t going to always mash the ball and win the game 11-10. I know, seems hard to believe. But to be honest, most of the time, they are going to need the pitching to be there. More importantly they need the bullpen to lockdown the games in a similar fashion to that of the Indians ‘pen last year. With Todd Jones’ tendency to create drama in the ninth, the performance of the guys in the 6th through 8th may make or break this teams’ chances.
