text: Untested Tigers relievers have job of getting ball to Joaquin Benoit, Jose Valverde | MLive.com
  Untested Tigers relievers have job of getting ball to Joaquin Benoit, Jose Valverde
  on March 28, 2011 at 11:00 AM
  AP PhotoJoaquin Benoit should combine with Jose Valverde for a strong back end of the Tigers' bullpen.LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Detroit Tigers took care of the ninth inning last winter by signing Jose Valverde. This winter they took care of the eighth inning with the signing of Joaquin Benoit.
  They have been building their bullpen back-to-front, and there has been no indication of any flaws in the strategy. Valverde has been as been as effective as any closer in the game over the past four years, and a case could be made for Benoit (1.34 earned run average, .147 opposing batting average) being the best reliever in the American League with Tampa Bay in 2010.
  Both pitchers picked up where they left off this spring, throwing a dominant inning every second day to prepare for the season. Benoit and Valverde have become close friends, and Benoit looked comfortable the moment he walked into the Tiger clubhouse.
  "I'm pretty much settled here," he said. "It's a great group of guys and a lot of young, talented kids. I think we're going to be good."
  The bullpen issue for the Tigers is now the seventh inning and perhaps the sixth.
  The persistent elbow problems of Joel Zumaya have taken him out of the picture for the start of the season, at least, leaving a core of mostly untested relievers including Ryan Perry and left-hander Brad Thomas, who appeared in 60 and 49 games, respectively, for Detroit last season.
  The bullpen can include as many as three left-handers when Daniel Schlereth and rookie Adam Wilk are on the roster.
  Schlereth impressed in 18 games last year. He was set back by a sore hamstring this spring before establishing his command.
  Wilk and Brayan Villareal are 23-year-old relievers with very little experience above the Class A level. Both came out of nowhere to make positive impressions this spring, and it appeared at least one would make the opening-day roster.
  When manager Jim Leyland pointed out that Villareal "shows absolutely no fear," the young Venezuelan explained it is because he can't afford to.
  "I can't be afraid," he said. "I'm trying to make the team. I can't get behind."
  Ideally, Leyland would have liked to have Zumaya (who threw 223 pitches clocked at 100 mph plus last season), Perry and a combination of left-handers around to set up Benoit and Valverde. But ideal circumstances rarely occur, especially in the case of Zumaya, who has been on the disabled list every year since 2006.
  "The guy in camp, or the guy you get on the waiver wire or a trade is not going to be Joel Zumaya," Leyland said. "So you've got to keep looking and come up with somebody, most likely from within, that you can feel comfortable with."
  Regardless of whether they succeed, a key to the Tigers' season will be getting ahead before the eighth inning.
  "If we're not winning games, the eighth- and ninth-inning guys won't be nearly as important," Leyland said. "If we have a chance to win games, the eighth and ninth innings will hopefully be taken care of, but you still have to be careful when you say that because Benoit and Valverde can't pitch every day.
  "Hopefully you'll win five in a row and you have somebody else who can pitch that spot (for a day). But generally speaking, when you have a solid setup guy and closer, that should minimize the innings of the other guys."