Lynn Henning: Tigers Insider

Pitching trio showing promise

What happens to the Tigers' cast of injured and disabled players between now and February will have obvious effects on next season, not to mention roster plans crafted this autumn and winter.

Dave Dombrowski, president and general manager of the Tigers, was asked about this Friday in Florida, where he was inspecting prospects during the instructional program at their Tigertown complex.

There was little news, which on balance favors the Tigers:

• Joel Zumaya: He should be 100 percent when training camp convenes in February.

"No question," said Dombrowski, who knows a healthy Zumaya could replace Fernando Rodney as the closer after Rodney, as expected, leaves for a free-agent contract elsewhere.

• Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson: They are the best bets to become the fourth and fifth starters in Jim Leyland's rotation. They are sticking to routine offseason conditioning programs.

Bonderman's prognosis is strong for the simple reason he showed dramatic improvement from June to August in rebuilding the muscle and nerve areas severed during his 2008 thoracic surgery. The Tigers knew the right-hander was looking at a long recovery, based on the amount of healing he faced.

But they saw enough during his late-season bullpen appearances to believe he will be ready. Bonderman, of course, still needs a third pitch, which is why some wonder if he might be better suited to the bullpen.

It's a reasonable thought, except that Bonderman has 200-inning capacity as a starter. It's easier to find relievers than workhorses of Bonderman's capability.

As for Robertson, if he throws with as much zip as he generally displayed during September, the Tigers might have the left-handed starter they desperately need. The removal of cysts from his throwing elbow in June clearly restored some of Robertson's zing.

• Dontrelle Willis: Status quo. He continues to see his doctors for anxiety disorder. He continues to follow a conditioning and throwing regimen. He and the Tigers have this dream: Willis, a 27-year-old left-hander who was supposed to have been a rotation bulwark when he was acquired in the Miguel Cabrera trade, shakes off two years of misery and becomes the 2010 comeback player of the year.

Realistically, it's not going to happen. The Tigers won't say, but they likely recovered somewhere in the vicinity of 50 percent of Willis' $10 million salary in 2009, because of insurance protection clubs uniformly take out on players of Willis' stature and expense.

• Brandon Inge: For now, he will let rest and a customized recovery program heal the tendinitis that made the last four months of the season miserable for a third baseman who looked as if he would have a career season. In many respects he did: 27 home runs, 84 RBIs, and possible selection by opposing managers as a Gold Glove third baseman.

But he hit only .230 with 170 strikeouts.

The consensus was that Inge's aching left knee sabotaged the second half of his season. The Tigers will wait for doctors to determine if surgery, rather than rehabilitation, might yet be needed.

By the numbers

5 Complete games for Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and Jarrod Washburn.

20 Stolen bases by Curtis Granderson. No other current Tiger had more than seven.

141 Strikeouts for Curtis Granderson, exceeded only by Brandon Inge's 170.

Still working

Here are the Tigers prospects playing in the 2009 Arizona Fall League (the prospects play for the Peoria Javelinas in the six-team league):

• Casper Wells

• Cale Iorg

• Robbie Weinhardt

• Thad Weber

• Danny Oliver

• Scott Sizemore

• Scot Drucker

History in the making

A look at the milestones Tigers players reached this season:

Key dates

• November: Free-agent filing period -- the first 15 days after World Series ends.

• Dec. 1: Last day for teams to offer salary arbitration to their former players who became free agents.

• Dec. 7: Last day for free agents offered salary arbitration to accept the offers.

• Dec. 12: Last day for teams to offer 2010 contracts to unsigned player.

• Jan 5-15: Salary arbitration filing.

2010 schedule highlights

• April 5: Season opener, at Kansas City

• April 9: Home opener, vs. Cleveland

• May 10-13: vs. N.Y. Yankees, Comerica Park

• May 14-16: vs. Boston, Comerica Park

• May 20-23: Interleague starts, at L.A. Dodgers

lynn.henning@detnews.com (313) 222-2472