Milwaukee Brewers Sign Veteran RHP Josh Tomlin To Minors Deal

The Milwaukee Brewers have signed another starting pitcher to add to their depth in the rotation for 2019.

Ken Rosenthal dropped this bomb on Thursday afternoon that the Milwaukee Brewers have signed free agent righty Josh Tomlin to a minor league contract.

This contract provides no guarantees to Tomlin, as it’s just a minor league contract. He’s a veteran that doesn’t cost much, and could possibly help the team in 2019.

Who Is Josh Tomlin?

For his entire career, Tomlin, 34, has pitched with the Cleveland Indians. He’s had one season in his career with an ERA below 4.00, and that was in 2015, when he made only 10 starts.

Last year, Tomlin began the season in the Indians rotation, but was removed early in the season due to horrible ineffectiveness. He made only nine starts, and made 23 appearances out of the bullpen. He finished with a 6.14 ERA in 32 appearances covering 70.1 innings.

In those 32 games, Tomlin allowed 25 home runs.

Yikes.

And now he could possibly be pitching in Miller Park? Double yikes.

For his career, Tomlin is a 4.77 ERA pitcher with a 1.226 career WHIP. He’s a flyball pitcher who has struggled with the long ball in the past.

Why Did The Brewers Sign Josh Tomlin?

Add another veteran arm to the mix? Last year the Milwaukee Brewers did this when they signed Wade Miley to a minor league contract, and he went on to have a pretty good season for the Crew. Perhaps they’re hoping that Tomlin can turn into the next Wade Miley.

Tomlin is not guaranteed a roster spot and, at the moment, is unlikely to get one. There are a number of rotation options ahead of him who are younger and have shown much more potential and ability.

He’s a depth piece they can stash at Triple-A and they can bring him up if they ever need him. If he bombs in spring training, they can simply cut him with no guaranteed money heading his way. If he does extremely well in spring, perhaps he could prove worthy of a roster spot. There’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal.

Will he pitch in Miller Park? Hopefully not. With his penchant for giving up home runs, Miller Park might be the worst place in baseball for him to pitch in. The rotation options ahead of him put him probably 8th or 9th on the depth chart. If the Brewers get to the point where they seriously need to call on Tomlin, something has gone seriously wrong.

The Milwaukee Brewers clearly aren’t finished tinkering with this roster ahead of the start of spring training. Hopefully they can land someone of a higher caliber than Tomlin.