Report: Brewers invite Tomlin to their camp

The Brewers have reportedly invited former Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin to spring training with an incentive-based contract.

One of Indians manager Terry Francona’s favorite players has landed a job with another team.

Josh Tomlin, whose 13-year career pitching in the Indians organization began in 2006 at Mahoning Valley and continued the next season when he went 10-3 with the Lake County Captains, has signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers with an invitation to spring training, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

The 33-year-old righthander was 2-5 in 32 games with the Indians last year. He started nine games and pitched 70 1/3 innings.

Tomlin was 13-9 in the Indians World Series season of 2016 and 10-9 in 2017.

Tomlin never overpowered hitters, but he was artful at painting the corners and could make hitters swing and miss at his breaking pitches when things were going well for him. The 6-foot-1 Texan was originally a 19th-round draft pick by Indians.

“When he’s really commanding he’ll run his cutter in on lefties, spin his breaking ball, throw his changeup and stay out of the middle,” Francona said when Tomlin was struggling early in the 2018 season. “When he makes a mistake, he’s catching too much of the plate and he’s paying the price right now.”

Tomlin spent parts of 2011 (right elbow), 2012 (right wrist and then later in the season right elbow reconstruction), 2013 (right elbow), 2015 (right shoulder surgery), 2017 (left hamstring) and 2018 (right hamstring) on the disabled list.

Despite all the injuries, Tomlin posted a winning record of 61-53 with a 4.77 ERA in his time with the Indians.