Josh Tomlin starts Tuesday for the Braves

Can someone wearing a Braves uniform go more than four innings in a start? Josh Tomlin gets the next crack at it.

The Braves will turn to Josh Tomlin Tuesday night in game two of the series with Washington at Truist Park.

Tomlin is not a stranger to starting a baseball game. He started 144 games for Cleveland between 2010 and 2018. Usually a fourth or fifth starter, Tomlin served a role for the Indians as a serviceable pitcher who could do several roles.

He’s doing the same thing for Atlanta, and while the Braves value his role as a long reliever, they need him to start Tuesday. The Braves are not yet ready to call up the pitching prospects, like Tucker Davidson, Ian Anderson, or Kyle Muller, so they’ll instead turn to their veteran on the staff for a spot start.

Tomlin has pitched in eight games in relief this season for the Braves. He’s 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA, two runs on six hits allowed in 11.1 innings, with only three walks and 16 strikeouts.

The Braves trust Tomlin because he doesn’t walk people. After watching Touki Toussaint walk six batters Monday night against the Nationals, the Braves need see someone let his fielders do their job in game two of the series.

Here’s how long the Braves starters have pitched in the first 24 games of the 60-game schedule:

6.2 innings – 2 times
6.1 innings – 1 time
6.0 innings – 3 times
5.1 innings – 1 time
5.0 innings – 2 times
4.2 innings – 1 time
4.1 innings – 1 time
4.0 innings – 3 times
3.1 innings – 3 times
3.0 innings – 2 times
2.2 innings – 1 time
2.1 innings – 2 times
1.1 innings – 1 time
1.0 inning – 1 time

So, out of the 24 games by the Braves, only 14 times have the starting pitchers gone 4.0 innings or more. That means in 10 of the games the starters failed to go at least 4.0 innings.

Only eight of the 24 Braves games has seen a starting pitcher go 5.0 or more innings – that’s one-third of the games.

Listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 p.m. ET on Middle Georgia's ESPN. You can listen online at TheSuperStations.com. Follow Bill on Twitter @billshanks and email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.