ICleveland Indians Notes Josh Tomlin, Francisco Lindor, Jason Giambi Guest Coach

http://donatelifeohio.org/

Josh Tomlin goes by the nickname, the Cowboy.

At 6‘1“ 190 lbs. Tomlin is not a power pitcher by any means but the Tyler, Texas native has a power heart.

Tomlin recovered from elbow reconstruction surgery in 2012 and shoulder surgery in 2014.  Last year he had a solid season in the back end of the Indians starting rotation.  The Indians took him out of the rotation for awhile but Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco were hurt during the season.  Tomlin returned and pitched well. 

The Cowboy finished season with a 13-9 record with a 4.40 ERA in 29 starts.  Tomlin four post season starts, including two in the World Series.

Tomlin gets his outs by command of his pitches.

“When he’s going good, he can command his fastball,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He can command all of his pitches. He pitches in effectively, throws his cutter off the fastball, flips that breaking ball in, change up.  It is a quality mix.”

http://www.wiedemannbeer.com/

When Tomlins tired, he struggled.

“When he was tired, he started throwing that cutter, more, more, more,” Francona said. “Then he was yanking it across the plate.  That’s when he got in trouble but when he is crisp.  It is command. I don’t think the radar gun matters.  When you look at him and every pitch looks crisp, that’s when he is ready to go.”

When Francona took Tomlin out of the rotation, Tomlin made adjustments.

“I think he deserves a ton of credit,” Francona said.  “He didn’t hang his head or pout. He looked at some things himself. He dug deep into who he needs to be. He came up with a lot of conclusions that were really helpful. When he got back in it was like he hadn’t missed a beat.”

“That was huge because we were losing pitchers (Salazar and Carrasco),” Francona said. “He is as good a teammate as I’ve ever seen.”

Francisco Lindor is finding fame but is not letting it effect him.

“For a young player, you start getting attention, then you don’t forget what got you the attention but it’s not the priority anymore,” Francona said.  “I don’t think with Frankie, I never felt the need to talk to him about that.  He’s an intelligent young man. He loves playing baseball. I think he enjoys what comes with it. He should. As long as he handles what he handles at the ballpark it works.”

Jason Giambi is with the Indians as a guest coach.

“It’s unbelievable. He’s such a special person,” Francona said. “Every day he spends here is a bonus for everybody, myself included. It’s not just us. We went to Oakland yesterday. He’s hugging everybody, the grounds crew guy, everybody.  That’s the way G is. We’re fortunate he has our uniform on.”

“It’s not an easy thing to pull in and hand out wisdom but he has that ability. How he carries himself and what guys think of him. I guarantee you when they see G coming, they’re glad. It’s never, like ‘oh no here he comes’”  The more he wants to stay is fine with us and he knows that.”