Atlanta Braves bring back their long arm
It isn’t a “big” deal, per se, but the Atlanta Braves are now working on their 2021 roster.
Traditionally, there aren’t a lot of player deals conducted during MLB awards week, but some business is occasionally conducted. Such is the case this week as the Atlanta Braves are bringing back right-hander Josh Tomlin to continue his role as the reliable bullpen “long man”:
Tomlin, who turned 36 years old last month, will now spend his third season with the Braves after leaving his original club (the Indians) after 9 years with them.
He was a consistent starter with Cleveland for most of his stint with that club, but transitioned to a mostly relief role once arriving in Atlanta.
That clearly became important for the Braves during a rocky 2020 campaign that saw Tomlin start 5 games, appear in 12 others — over 25% of the total schedule — and throw close to 40 innings all together.
The results were not spectacular — a 4.76 ERA, which was a run higher than in 2019 — but for the task given, that wasn’t really the main point. The point was simply to get through games without destroying the rest of the bullpen.
In that respect, Tomlin has performed an invaluable service for the Braves, and that’s why now — even at 36 — he’s being welcomed back for another run at the playoffs for this team.
Stats for 2020 can definitely be looked at with a raised eyebrow, given that there are a lot of ‘Small Sample Size’ biases that can creep in. That said, Tomlin actually increased his strikeout rate this year to a level (8.2 batters per 9 innings) that he’d never reached before in the majors.
He’s still not a “strikeout pitcher”, but this still represents a noticeable change that helped his effectiveness — all the while maintaining his ability to avoid walking a lot of batters (he was still under 2 walks per 9… a mark kept for all but 2 early seasons during his career).
So that’s one: one player that the Atlanta Braves have inked for the next year. There’s a lot of work still to go, but this is a good “ice-breaker” as dependable arms are often difficult to find.
Wecome back to Atlanta, Josh Tomlin!