Josh “Tomahawk” Collmenter is a veteran MLB pitcher (Baseball Reference) and striking throwing machine who after 7 seasons in The Show (2011-2017), and after the 2017 season elected for free agency. Josh approached Baseball Jobs Overseas about taking his career overseas, indicating that he was looking to make a difference overseas both as a coach and a player. Collmenter commented:

“I have experienced baseball in the USA and want to see how I can impact and help develop the game overseas. ” 

 Josh also expressed that he wants to “exhaust all of his knowledge and experience to give a club everything he can so that they can fulfill whatever baseball goals they may have.”

Josh had a number of offers and decided to go with the expansion Australian Baseball League expansion team, the Auckland Tuartara, the first professional team in Australia. Josh also took over as the U15 National team coach for the months leading up to the season. This was exactly what Josh wanted, to play in a competitive league to get back on track in hopes of an MLB contract, while also making a major impact on a baseball market still in it’s infancy. Here is a video from early January 2019 of Josh pitching against the back-to-back-to-back ABL champs, the Brisbane Bandits.

Known as a workhorse among his fans, Josh burst onto the MLB scene in 2011 with 24 starts in his rookie season with the Diamondbacks. His MLB start was so epic that he will go down in the history books as the first pitcher in MLB history (since earned runs were recorded in 1912) to have given up four or fewer total earned runs and 20 or fewer total hits in his first six starts. 

He quickly became known for his extreme over-the-top delivery which he accredits to throwing axes at trees as a kid. He is also known for rarely walking batters as highlighted in his 24 starts that rookie season where Josh walked only 28. With an average fastball of 87 mph, Josh relies on a large dose of cutters and nasty changeups to keep hitters off-balance with the occasional curveball mixed in.

Fast forward 7 years, the 32 year-old had a very successful MLB career where he was used mostly as a starter which is where he is most comfortable and has found the most success. In 695 MLB innings between the D-Back and Braves, Josh posted a 35-32 record while holding down a career era of 3.64 complimented by 494 strikeouts and only 168 walks.

For someone who has achieved as much success in his baseball career as Josh has, it is quite refreshing to see how humble and down to earth he is as shown in this Youtube video presented by USA Today where Josh gives his younger self advice. Josh has also shown his lighter side on multiple occasions including the Domingo Ayala video titled “How to Pitch When You Don’t Throw 95+”, and there was also this interview in 2015 and this video of some dugout shenanigans with his Diamondback teammates.

Any professional organization overseas interested in acquiring Josh for a role both as a player and a coach can send expressions of interest to David Burns at dburns@baseballjobsoverseas.com.