Tigers: 2 players who proved their spring training was a fluke, 1 who was legit

SP Spencer Turnbull

Turnbull may be injured at the moment, but his first seven starts of the season were not good. He had a 7.26 ERA in 31 innings pitched. It was so bad that the Tigers planned on sending him down to Toledo before it was revealed he had a neck injury in what was a strange situation.

Turnbull is, of course, coming off Tommy John surgery. He looked very strong at times in spring training. There was a start against the Yankees where he looked flat out unhittable through two innings before running out of gas in the third.

Overall, he had a 4.50 ERA and 12 strikeouts in as many innings this spring. Those aren't fantastic by any stretch, but it was a small sample and certainly better than he was during the regular season.

The Turnbull situation is still quite odd. He's now on the 60-day IL with said neck injury. There's still a real possibility that he's pitched his last game as a Tiger. The two sides appear to be at odds with each other.