Josh Tomlin to join Indians starting rotation on Tuesday

From Jul 31, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Tomlin delivers a pitch in the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. (John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports)

After having Tommy John surgery in August of 2012, the road back to the majors has been a long one for Cleveland Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin. When Tuesday arrives, that road may have been worth the travel.

The numbers from Meisel’s tweet don’t tell the entire story. In 35 IP for Columbus, Tomlin posted 28 strikeouts (7.2 SO/9) while walking only 9 (2.3 BB/9) for a SO/W of 3.11. He also allowed only 22 hits over those 35 innings for a H/9 of 5.7. His WHIP of 0.886 is also impressive.

In Tomlin’s five starts, he has never permitted more than six hits. His first outing of the season wasn’t anything special as Tomlin allowed four runs on six hits in 6 IP. Since then, he’s been dominant, sporting a 2-0 record with a 1.24 ERA and .172 BAA. Another encouraging sign is that 66% of his pitches have gone for strikes. His last outing was a complete game shutout in which he permitted only three hits and whiffed ten.

Tomlin will join a starting rotation that has posted some good and not so good numbers so far this season.

The Tribe’s starters have the AL’s worst strand rate of 64.1%, and a collective ERA of 4.84 and WHIP of 1.48 both rank 13th. The BAA is an unsightly .272 (12th). But their FIP of 3.47 and xFIP of 3.67 are the league’s 3rd best. The starters 3.0 fWAR ranks as fourth overall. And that SO% of 22.7 ranks second best and their 166 strikeouts tops the AL. It’s a mixed bag this far.