"In 2006, pitchers Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya each had a sensational rookie season and helped take the Tigers to the World Series.

Five years later, their paths had diverged to this extent: Verlander threw a major league-high 4,306 pitches in 2011, and Zumaya didn't throw any.

Strangely enough, those contrasting workloads might give each pitcher the same objective in spring training: Don't try to do too much too soon.

Perhaps Zumaya tried to do too much too soon last spring in Tigers camp after he'd missed the final half of the previous season with a broken elbow. He looked awesome in early workouts. But he got hurt in his first exhibition game, and he hasn't pitched in an exhibition or regular-season game since then."