Tigers Report: Inside Pitch

How the Tigers fare this season will be closely tied to what Rick Porcello does in the rotation.

Will he be the 14-9 pitcher with the 3.96 ERA he was as a 20-year-old rookie in 2009? Or will Porcello be the 10-12 hurler whose ERA rose by nearly a run last year, necessitating a midyear tuneup trip to Toledo?

Manager Jim Leyland said Porcello needs his secondary pitches to return to their rookie consistency in order to be a solid starter.

"He needs his slider to be more consistent," Leyland said. "He needs everything to be more consistent. But Porcello knows that."

Porcello was very good following the midseason trip to the minors, but still occasionally had the inconsistencies in his sinker and slider that plagued him from the beginning of the season.

"Of the two pitches, my slider was still the more inconsistent at the end of last year," Porcello said. "In some games, it was where I wanted it to be. In others it wasn't quite as sharp.

"It's definitely getting there, but those are the pitches I need to be able to throw on any count to any hitter."

Detroit enters the spring feeling confident in what it will get from its top two starters, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, both of whom showed ace qualities a good portion of last year.

The Tigers have confidence that Phil Coke will be able to carry his dominant stuff from the bullpen to a starter's role simply because he was used extensively as a starter on his way to the majors.

Brad Penny has to overcome injury issues that have bothered him the last few seasons, but when healthy he has been a dominant starter. His injury history is why he was able to get only $3 million in guaranteed money from Detroit, but his track record is why the Tigers gladly included $3 million in performance incentives.

A solid season from Porcello would help Detroit skate by any issues that crop up with Coke and Penny, and is why he's seen in many quarters as being a key to how the Tigers fare this season.

"I enjoy that being said about me," Porcello said. "It means that people have confidence in you to make a difference. When there's no pressure on you, it means you are non-factor. I don't want to be non-factor."

Having gone through two spring trainings and two seasons in the majors will be a plus for Porcello, who would be finishing up his career at the University North Carolina had he not signed with Detroit out of high school as their top draft choice. He turned 22 in December.

"I'll just keep grinding away and working on it," Porcello said. "Hitters made adjustments to me. I have to be able to make counter-adjustments to them."

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