As Tigers’ fans fixate warily on the team’s starting pitching (my prediction is that Dontrelle Willis pulls it together just enough to earn the last slot and hold off Rick Porcello, while neither Nate Robertson nor Zach Miner make the roster as starters or relievers), it’s easy to overlook the bright side: the bullpen looks pretty good.

• The back end doesn’t look like a trainwreck. I’ll grant you that Brandon Lyon’s 1.93 ERA is deceiving, considering he’s given up four unearned runs and been hit fairly hard. But Fernando Rodney has been solid and Joel Zumaya looks to be on track. It’s hardly the best-case scenario, especially considering that Joel Zumaya and Dr. James Andrews have appeared in the same sentences, but it’s fairly positive.
• The veteran FAs look great. The big plus is Juan Rincon, who has been lights-out: only two hits and a walk in six innings. He’d be a huge addition who would factor into the equation in the late innings. Scott Williamson has had a couple of good outings to go with one disastrous one. We’re getting to the point in camp where, traditionally, Matt Mantei’s arm falls off, so the fact that Rincon and Williamson don’t seem to be faltering is a big plus.
• Bobby Seay hasn’t been scored on, and in fact his WHIP is a very solid 1.07 through five innings.
• Prospects Ryan Perry, Freddy Dolsi and Casey Fien have each been very solid. One the other hand, Rule V pickup Kyle Bloom seems a pretty safe bet to be returned to the Pirates. (C James Skelton, whom the Diamondbacks took from Detroit in the same draft, has just one hit in 12 ABs for the D-Backs this spring, so it may be a wash. Skelton does have four walks, though, so his OBP isn’t terrible. Still, he looks likely to be returned to the Detroit organization as Arizona zeroes in on Miguel Montero and Chris Snyder as its catchers.)

While you wait to figure out who will start games for the Tigers this season, at least take heart that, if the spring games are any indication, the bullpen may cause you less stress than a year ago. Lyon, Zumaya, Rodney, Rincon and Seay, with two long relief guys to be named later, seems infinitely more solid than a year ago.