Tigers Report: Inside Pitch

Few serious questions face manager Jim Leyland as Detroit heads into its 75th spring training at Lakeland, Fla.

Who will play second base, at least until Carlos Guillen is ready to take over, probably is the biggest problem the Tigers' manager faces. Identifying backup plans for the rotation and left-handedness in the bullpen are back-burner type questions, unless someone gets hurt right away.

Leyland will spend the spring determining who sits in the last seat on the bench, developing Don Kelly as a viable emergency catcher and looking to see how much defense will hurt his team this season.

General manager Dave Dombrowski has acknowledged the Tigers will be a good team this year, barring catastrophic injuries, so Leyland's job is to tugboat the ship out of the harbor this spring and make sure the lookouts are watching for icebergs to avoid any Titanic-type disasters.

Medical types have warned Leyland not to expect Guillen to be fully operational until some point in April, or perhaps May.

Guillen tentatively has been cleared to play exhibition games, but not until mid-March and this means he will stay behind when Detroit breaks camp so he can continue to test his left knee, which was repaired by micro-fracture surgery in September.

The second base job belongs to Guillen when he returns, but given his recent fragility, a viable backup has to be in place.

Will Rhymes, who offers an intriguing blend of speed and decent-enough defense (but no power) and Scott Sizemore, who flubbed a shot at the job last year, will be evaluated this spring as Leyland decides which one gets more playing time and whether one or both make the opening day roster.

The presence of Ramon Santiago, the primary backup shortstop, means Leyland has leeway to keep only one of the two if he needs an extra roster spot.

Detroit's rotation is set, at least until pitches are thrown, but Plan B consists of hoping nothing happens to Plan A. None of the hot young minor league prospects are deemed major league ready; if they were, Brad Penny would not have been signed.

The conversion of Phil Coke from late-inning reliever to starter leaves the Tigers with only Brad Thomas and Daniel Schlereth as bullpen southpaws. Emergency help must be identified because Thomas is best suited for early relief and Schlereth, who has late-inning stuff, needs to display major league control for more than the two months it was shown last season.

Austin Jackson showed last season he can cover his position and half of left and right fields as well. He will have to because returning Magglio Ordonez is 37 and coming off a broken right ankle. Left fielder Ryan Raburn has speed and a good arm, but makes folks cringe at times with his outfield play.

Leyland can use Kelly as a defensive replacement but always in the back of his mind is the fact the utility player must be kept available in case he needs to catch.

Clete Thomas, whose season was shortened by injury last year, isn't written about much, but he's a quality defender with an excellent arm who can play all three outfield spots and hits left-handed well.

Thomas might fit the club's needs better than Brennan Boesch and Casper Wells, who both would be better off getting regular playing time somewhere than seeing spot outfield duty and being the designated hitter when Victor Martinez is catching.

Some believe Jhonny Peralta's lack of range at shortstop will hurt, but there is some compensation with the presence of Brandon Inge at third and Santiago on the bench. Outfield defense and second base are probably higher on the priority watch list.

Strong pitching, a respectable offense and not losing any key players to injury were key factors in Detroit reaching the World Series in 2006. The organization hopes those same factors will make the Tigers a post-season presence in 2011.

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