Cleveland Indians: Josh Tomlin set for his rehab start

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Josh Tomlin has not appeared in a game since July 30, but he is set to make a rehab start Friday night.

Josh Tomlin was cruising back on July 30, going four perfect innings before he was removed from the game. Cleveland Indians fans knew that was a bad sign.

Tomlin has been out ever since, disbanding the six-man rotation and allowing Ryan Merritt to get some starts now that Danny Salazar is also out.

But Tomlin is back tonight to make a rehab start in Mahoning Valley, hopefully meaning he will be back soon.

https://twitter.com/mvscrappers/status/900833519194320897

With it being this late in the season, it appears that given this rehab start goes well, Tomlin will immediately slot back into the rotation in place of Merritt, who is also pitching tonight.

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This is great news for Indians fans as any mainstay returning from an injury is a great sign. The disabled list is far too crowded, especially so late in the season.

Tomlin was having himself a nice month of July before he left with the injury, sporting a season-best ERA of 3.41 in the month. The Indians won in three of his starts, with the veteran picking up the win in all three games.

His success is what started the use of the six-man rotation, although that won’t be used until Salazar is healthy again.

And even then, the team may opt to put Mike Clevinger in the bullpen later in the year.

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All of this is contingent on a great start tonight as Tomlin looks to help the Mahoning Valley Scrappers with the playoff push. Call it a rehab start, but the opposing team may call it collusion.

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Josh Tomlin has not appeared in a game since July 30, but he is set to make a rehab start Friday night.

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