More on holding runners

It's getting near my bedtime -- early to bed, early to rise in spring training when you can -- so I'll leave you with a follow-up to Sunday's notebook topper about Leyland wanting his pitchers to hold runners better. Courtesy of the Bill James Handbook, here are Tigers starters' statistics from last year on baserunners, in alphabetical order:

• Bazardo: 1 stolen base, 0 caught stealing
• Bonderman: 19 stolen bases, 4 caught stealing
• Durbin: 5 SB, 2 CS
• Jurrjens: 2 SB, 0 CS
• Andrew Miller: 10 SB, 1 CS
• Maroth (both DET and STL): 1 SB, 6 CS
• Miner: 4 SB, 6 CS
• Robertson: 7 SB, 4 CS
• Rogers: No SB attempts
• Tata: No SB attempts
• Virgil Vasquez: 1 SB, 0 CS
• Verlander: 4 SB, 1 CS

Keep in mind with Miller that even though he's left-handed, he had some struggles pitching from the stretch, and opponents obviously took advantage. Among the relievers, one interesting stat was that Fernando Rodney allowed six stolen bases with two caught stealing. Surprisingly, three opponents tried to steal against Joel Zumaya last year, and all were successful.

I'm sure people are curious about who looks good so far in camp -- Virgil Vasquez, Zach Miner and Freddy Dolsi have all received mentions. But keep in mind, a year ago around this time, we were all remarking how well Kyle Sleeth was throwing. And he was. However, throwing well now doesn't translate to throwing well once the season starts and the hitters are wearing other teams' uniforms.