Cleveland Indians: Top 25 Indians in 2017: No. 22, Josh Tomlin

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Josh Tomlin didn’t have a great season in 2017, but it was good enough for him to make our Top 25 in 2017 list.

Cleveland Indians fans don’t rush down to Progressive Field for games started by Josh Tomlin, but they also don’t run away in horror.

Tomlin has been a bottom of the rotation guy since debuting with the Indians in 2010, and that remained true in 2017.

The veteran finished 2017 with 26 starts, matching the second-highest mark of his career. He pitched around his career averages, finishing with a 4.98 ERA, 4.12 FIP and 1.277 WHIP.

He is not known for his strikeouts, but did record 109 in 141 innings of work, only walking 14 batters in that span. His 7.0 K/9 was the third-best mark of his career.

Injuries to the entire staff throughout the season helped Tomlin keep his job, along with the fact Terry Francona decided upon a six-man rotation at times.

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Tomlin’s best outing of the season came during the postseason in a relief role. He pitched the final two innings in the Game 2 victory over the New York Yankees after Francisco Lindor hit the grand slam that nearly killed Matt Vasgersian.

He struck out three in two perfect innings before Yan Gomes walked it off in the bottom of the 13th.

Having a veteran pitcher capable of coming into such a high-leverage situation and producing is invaluable, but that scenario was something specific to the postseason.

Tomlin will remain in the starting rotation in 2018, and that is just fine because he is not a dominant option in the bullpen. If anyone had to make the switch, Danny Salazar and Mike Clevinger are much better options.

The team picked up Tomlin’s $3 million option this offseason and the lack of any major moves shows that the front office believes this staff is elite. No need to make changes if you already spent years assembling the desired group.

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Tomlin is a perfect player for Francona, who puts trust in veterans and is the opposite of someone like Bill Belichick when it comes to loyalty to players. Because of this, Tomlin’s role in the rotation should be safe barring any collapse like he had near the end of the 2016 season when he couldn’t stop allowing home runs.