Once considered a top prospect within Major League Baseball, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Josh Lindblom announced his retirement.
A second-round pick by the Dodgers in the 2008 MLB Draft, Lindblom worked his way up the Minor League system until his promotion to the big league club in May of 2011. Lindblom made his MLB debut in a relief appearance a few weeks later against the Colorado Rockies on June 11.
With his first win coming through a relief appearance in an extra-inning battle with the Houston Astros later that summer on August 12, he finished the year with a 2.73 ERA in just under 30 innings of work.
Despite Lindblom’s anticipated success at the Major League level, the Indiana native bounced around various organizations throughout the early 2010s, and eventually went to play in the Korean Baseball Organization in 2014.
The Dodgers traded Lindblom in July 2012, along with a player to be named later (eventually Stefan Jarrín) and Ethan Martin, to the Philadelphia Phillies for Shane Victorino.
After a short stint in 2016 with the Pittsburgh Pirates which eventually led to being designated for assignment, he returned to the KBO and found dominance throughout 2018 and 2019 pitching for the Doosan Bears.
After a league-best 2.88 ERA in 26 starts in 2018, Lindblom was remarkable on the mound in 2019, capturing MVP honors behind a 20-3 record and 2.50 ERA in just under 195 innings. He ended the season with 189 strikeouts.
Thanks to an impressive tenure in the KBO, the Milwaukee Brewers inked the right-hander to a three-year, $9.125 million contract heading into the 2020 season but found Lindblom DFA’d shortly into 2021 after a lowly return to the Majors.
Ending his career with an overall ERA of 4.78, Lindblom said via his announcement letter on Twitter, “for 30 years of my life I played a game that taught me about more than balls and strikes, hits and runs, and wins and losses-it taught me about life.”
2023 Dodgers Spring Training dates
With somewhat of a new look, the Dodgers officially return to Camelback Ranch for Spring Training on Thursday, February 16, when pitchers and catchers hold their first workout.
The Dodgers’ first full-squad workout is set for Monday, February 20.
While L.A. will be getting accustomed to many new faces surrounding the team, offseason pitching acquisitions Shelby Miller and Noah Syndergaard have reportedly already begun working with Dodgers pitching personnel in Arizona as they remain just a few short weeks away from reporting officially.
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