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August 30, 2016Urban Meyer wants more balanced offense this season
August 30, 2016Since the beginning of August, Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Josh Tomlin has struggled immensely, but manager Terry Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway aren’t worried—yet. They have decided to keep the hurler in the starting rotation, at least for now. He may be allowing plenty of runs, but the two coaches don’t see any indications of fatigue or the right-hander changing the way he pitches, per mlb.com’s Jordan Bastian.
“If what we’re seeing aligns with the numbers and the feedback from Josh himself,” Callaway said, “and if it all indicates that, ‘Man, maybe he needs a break. Maybe he doesn’t need to be starting,’ then we’d do it. That’s just not the case right now. All the other factors and indicators are saying he should be in the rotation. The results just haven’t been there. You just have to weather the storm. If you took everybody out of the rotation when they struggled four or five times in a row, you wouldn’t have a rotation. You’d be starting a guy from A-ball.”
In 2016, the 31-year-old has been above-average, with an 11-8 record and 4.70 ERA in 24 starts. But, looking more closely, the difference between the way Tomlin was pre-All-Star Break and post-break are incredible. In his first 15 starts of the season, he posted a 9-1 record with a 3.21 ERA, including winning his first seven decisions before his first loss came on May 30. While losing seven of his last nine starts, Tomlin has a miserable 7.51 ERA and an even more horrendous 10.80 ERA in his five consecutive losses; losses where he has only pitched past the fifth inning once.
He may not be known for his velocity, but the hurler has always been able to have great control to be able to find the corners. His four-seam fastball has even risen from 88.1 mph in April to 89.1 mph in August. So, his velocity isn’t the issue.
Throughout the season, Tomlin has been known to allow plenty of home runs. In fact, he leads all pitchers with 34 home runs allowed; three more than the next-worst pitcher. Why is this, you ask? While his fastball has continued to get faster, Tomlin’s cutter has been a problem. With all those home runs he has allowed, 17 have been off the cutter, including 10 of the last 15 he has allowed.
Since start of June, Tomlin has seen improvement with curve, but cutter has been a big culprit behind his struggles. pic.twitter.com/wrMc1pDXHE
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) August 29, 2016
The right-hander has noticed that and seems to be realize what he can do to change that.
“It has [been an issue] to righties, for sure. I’m not sure if I’m trying to do too much with it. I feel like right now that it’s a pitch that’s just kind of catching all the plate and kind of just easing across the plate, as opposed to being direct to a spot. That’s something I’ve got to work through and figure out how to execute that better.”
While Callaway realizes that his starting pitcher has continued to struggle, he wants to give Tomlin another chance, as long as he can limit the damage and start to win games again while limiting his opponent on the scoreboard.
“I just think we need to get back to limiting the damage and get pitches where we want to get them, and don’t make a big mistake that’s going to cost us.”
Tomlin is set to start Tuesday night against the Minnesota Twins. He needs to find a way to be the reliable fifth starter before Francona and Callaway change their minds. Mike Clevinger awaits.
11 Comments
Atta boys! Stick with him…you have nothing to worry about!
Hey Bode, I am going to predict now that Tomlin has a very solid start.
I thought you didn’t predict pitching? Uh oh…
I merely said I did not make a pitching prediction for yesterday’s game and i don’t feel you’ve accepted my print screen from Twitter as proof of my Gimenez prognostication.
So I am officially calling a quality start for Josh tonight.
I fully accepted the proof for Gimenez
And, was merely attempting to goad a further prediction here for Tomlin. Mission accomplished.
You used me Skinner!
This little cowboy may not be the pitcher we deserve but he is the pitcher we need.
Little cowboy isnt the pitcher this team deserves, he is the pitcher we deserve
Welp, I tried.
Stick to hitter predictions!
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