Sports

Oliver was a candidate for the fifth starter job during spring training this past season, but the Tigers were impressed with what they saw when he was moved to a relief role with Triple-A Toledo later in the year. "We liked what he did out of the bullpen," said Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski. "Some of our people still think he should start, but I would say coming into spring training based upon how we're set up right now he would come in as a bullpen guy." The hard-throwing 25-year-old has battled control problems during his career, but he could contend for a roster spot as a second left-hander behind Phil Coke.