The definition of insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result -- a notion that the Detroit Tigers will put to the test in 2015.

The Tigers will have essentially the same cast of relievers as the group that crumbled last year, when Detroit ranked 27th in bullpen ERA, at 4.27. But no numbers fully reflect the agita generated by that group’s performance. Joe Nathan blew a save on April 2, kicking off a summer-long debate among Tigers fans about who should be the closer, an exercise highlighted by Nathan’s gesture of annoyance to fans who had booed him. Detroit's year of late-inning apprehension culminated with repeated failures by other relievers in the Tigers’ season-ending playoff series against Baltimore.

After that sort of frustration, more reactive organizations would’ve gone for a complete overhaul -- to change the conversation, at the very least, and to change the result. And it’s possible that an overhaul might have been the correct response.

But the Tigers are not reactive, as Jose Valverde can attest.

Rather than rebuilding the bullpen, Detroit has taken the long view -- that the circumstances that worked against the Tigers’ relievers last summer will inevitably turn around.

“If you look at it just from a numbers perspective,” manager Brad Ausmus said over the phone Friday, “they’re due to have a correction.”

There was a Murphy’s Law feel to the group last year.