Brewers News: Former Crew Pitcher Josh Lindblom Announces Retirement

Prior to the start of the 2020 season, the Milwaukee Brewers signed Josh Lindblom to a three year, $9.1MM contract. At that time, Lindblom was coming off back-to-back incredible seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization.

Three years later, after the end of the 2022 season, he became a free agent. Now, it appears that Lindblom is stepping away from playing baseball.

On Thursday, former Brewers pitcher Josh Lindblom announced his retirement on Twitter.

Lindblom ended up spending seven season in the Major Leagues. He made his debut with the Dodgers in 2011 and last pitched in the bigs for the Brewers in 2021. In total he threw 209 big league innings, started 16 games, and had 4.78 ERA.

After struggling to find consistent success against big league hitters, Lindblom elected to play in the KBO for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. For the Doosan Bears, he pitched incredibly well. In 2018 he made 26 starts and had a 2.88 ERA. A year later, he made 30 starts and had a 2.50 ERA and was the KBO MVP.

With the Brewers, Lindblom was not able to find his footing during the shortened 2020 season. He then ended up spending most of 2021 in Triple-A with the Nashville Sounds, where he pitched quite well. His 2022 numbers in Triple-A were not as impressive, but he served in a leadership role on a Nashville team that made it to the championship game.

Outside of the statistics, Lindblom has been a class act. This is evidenced in his letter announcing his retirement from playing in which he wanted to say thank you to everyone he interacted with over the years from front office staff, coaches, fans, ground crew members, and media members. He also was viewed as an exceptional teammate. Below is a quote from outfielder Matt Lipka from our piece on Lindblom.

" “Josh is the best teammate I’ve had the opportunity to be around. He sets an unbelievable standard as to how to lead and be a good person in general. Brings unreal energy to the team day in and day out and has been the glue of the team in my opinion since I’ve been there. He does a great job of helping the young guys get acclimated to Triple-A and shares his expertise in a way that flat out gets through to guys. Josh would be an unreal addition to a team’s front office with how he understands analytics and he knows how to use/apply it best for the development of players."

- Matt Lipka

Perhaps we will see Lindblom in baseball again, whether it is as a coach, advisor, or any other role. For now, we wish him the best of luck in regards to wherever he goes from here!