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Rockies Place Austin Gomber On 10-Day IL Due To Forearm Tightness

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TODAY: Gomber has been placed on the 10-day injured list, the team announced.  In corresponding roster moves, righty Joe Harvey’s contract was selected from Triple-A, while right-hander Jordan Sheffield was moved to the 60-day IL.

JUNE 19: Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber left tonight’s start after two innings due to left forearm tightness, the team announced.  The removal was made “for precautionary reasons,” specifically.  Gomber stayed in the game long enough to make a plate appearance in the bottom of the second inning, dropping down a sacrifice bunt.  (MLB.com’s Thomas Harding noted that Jhoulys Chacin was already warming up in Colorado’s bullpen before Gomber’s at-bat, so it doesn’t appear as though the injury occurred while Gomber was at the plate.)

Injuries have already led to one big setback in Gomber’s career, as he missed the entire 2019 season due to shoulder and biceps problems.  A forearm issue is naturally of major concern, and it could be that the Rockies were simply acting as quickly as possible in removing Gomber at the first hint of trouble.

The 27-year-old Gomber carried an outsized spotlight entering the season, as he was the only player with MLB experience amongst the four-player package the Rockies received from the Cardinals in the Nolan Arenado trade.  Colorado fans were notably displeased about pretty much every facet of that deal, though Gomber’s recent numbers have provided a silver lining.  After a slow start to the season, Gomber had caught fire, posting a 1.28 ERA over his last seven starts and 42 1/3 innings heading into tonight’s outing against the Brewers.

Gomber is under team control through the 2025 season, giving the Rockies either a rotation building block or potentially even a future trade chip (i.e. not at this year’s trade deadline) depending on whether or not the team embarks on a wide-scale rebuild.  A serious forearm injury, of course, would interrupt either of those scenarios.

Latest On Rockies' Front Office

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  • The Rockies parted ways with assistant GM Jon Weil earlier this week, with The Athletic’s Nick Groke adding some more details about the front office situation.  Weil was told that the team wouldn’t be renewing his contract, which ended Weil’s 16-year run in the organization.  Between Weil leaving and VP of scouting Bill Schmidt being promoted to the interim GM job, both Weil’s and Schmidt’s former roles haven’t been filled, as the team has instead moved their responsibilities around to other current employees.  In addition, the baseball operations department is being overseen by Rockies president of business operations Greg Feasel.  This doesn’t seem like an ideal situation for a Rockies club that looks to be approaching a critical trade deadline and potential rebuilding period, — as Groke puts it, “a potential trade of [Trevor] Story and [Jon] Gray will be left to a business-minded president with no baseball experience, an interim GM with only two remaining lieutenants, and no true research department.”

Rockies Part Ways With Assistant GM Jon Weil

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The Rockies and assistant GM Jon Weil have mutually decided to part ways, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (Twitter link).  Weil has been with the organization since 2005 and in his current role since 2014, and The Denver Post’s Nick Groke writes that Weil is known league-wide as “an astute evaluator,” such as his “instrumental” role in the Rockies’ acquisition of German Marquez in a trade with the Rays back in January 2016.

Rockies Place Mychal Givens On 10-Day Injured List

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The Rockies placed right-hander Mychal Givens on the 10-day injured list due to a strain in his left lower back, the team announced.  Right-hander Justin Lawrence was called up from Triple-A to take Givens’ spot on the active roster.

Givens has a 2.78 ERA/3.98 SIERA over 22 2/3 innings for Colorado this season, with an above-average 26.6% strikeout rate but an 11.7% walk rate that sits only in the 19th percentile of all pitchers.  In short, it isn’t much different from Givens’ usual performance over his seven MLB seasons, as he has missed his share of bats while running into control issues through 368 career innings for the Orioles and Rockies.

One notable difference is that Givens is making his changeup a far bigger part of his arsenal this season — after a 69.6%/9.8% split between his fastball and change prior to 2021, Givens has thrown his heater only 45.2% of the time this season, and increased his changeup usage to 39.9%.  While Givens hasn’t gotten great results from his changeup specifically, his four-seamer has become a more effective pitch, after it had been getting hit increasingly harder over the last few years.

Baltimore sent Givens to Colorado in a deadline deal last August, and the righty again seemed like an obvious trade candidate on a Rockies team that will almost surely be selling by July 30.  Givens is scheduled for free agency after the season, and on a salary of slightly more than $4MM, he’d be an inexpensive add for a team in need of bullpen help.  (Givens would only have about $1.38MM remaining in owed salary if dealt on July 30.)  However, an injury could certainly throw a wrench into those plans, especially considering the vague nature of some back injuries.

Bill Schmidt Discussed Trade Deadline

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Story is reportedly not planning to re-sign with Colorado when he enters free agency after the season, though if the Rox didn’t trade him at the deadline, the team wouldn’t be left completely empty-handed if Story departed.  Since Story would assuredly reject Colorado’s qualifying offer, the Rockies would be in line for a compensatory draft pick after the first round of the draft.  “I trust our ability to make a good pick,” Schmidt said, noting that Story himself (as well as Nolan Arenado and Ryan McMahon) were all selected by the Rockies within that general range of the draft order.  Of course, this could also very well be gamesmanship on Schmidt’s part, letting trade suitors know that they’ll need to top the value of a first-round sandwich pick in order to land Story at the deadline.

“At the end of the day it’s going to come down to, what are they offering?” Rockies interim GM Bill Schmidt said of his team’s deadline plans, telling MLB.com’s Thomas Harding and other reporters that the front office isn’t under a mandate to cut payroll.  To this end, it’s possible a prime trade chip like Trevor Story isn’t moved at all, if no club makes the Rockies an acceptable offer.

Story is reportedly not planning to re-sign with Colorado when he enters free agency after the season, though if the Rox didn’t trade him at the deadline, the team wouldn’t be left completely empty-handed if Story departed.  Since Story would assuredly reject Colorado’s qualifying offer, the Rockies would be in line for a compensatory draft pick after the first round of the draft.  “I trust our ability to make a good pick,” Schmidt said, noting that Story himself (as well as Nolan Arenado and Ryan McMahon) were all selected by the Rockies within that general range of the draft order.  Of course, this could also very well be gamesmanship on Schmidt’s part, letting trade suitors know that they’ll need to top the value of a first-round sandwich pick in order to land Story at the deadline.

Rockies Sign Kelby Tomlinson, Release Ben Meyer

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  • Earlier this month, the Rockies signed infielder Kelby Tomlinson to a minors contract and released right-hander Ben Meyer.  Tomlinson appeared in 273 games with the Giants from 2015-18 (hitting .265/.331/.332 in 687 PA), primarily playing as a second baseman but also making appearances as a third baseman, shortstop, and left fielder.  Since his last big league game, Tomlinson has inked minor league deals with Diamondbacks, Mariners, and also the Rockies in a previous contract last season; Colorado released Tomlinson last June.  Meyer has been in Colorado’s organization for almost exactly two years, since the righty was let go by the Marlins.  A 29th-round pick for the Marlins in the 2015 draft, Meyer’s MLB resume consists of 19 innings and a 10.42 ERA with Miami in 2018.

Latest On Jon Gray, German Marquez

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Rockies starter Jon Gray is scheduled to hit free agency at the end of the season. With Colorado having virtually no chance to make the playoffs, that makes the 29-year-old one of the more logical trade candidates in baseball. Indeed, MLBTR’s Steve Adams ranked Gray the #1 trade candidate in the sport last week.

Gray changing teams next month still seems the most likely outcome, but Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reports the Rockies are expected to offer him a contract extension before pulling the trigger on any trade. Of course, the club offering Gray an extension doesn’t guarantee he’d stick around. The Rockies don’t look particularly close to contention, and the CAA Sports client may prefer to field offers from more immediate contenders this winter instead.

As Rosenthal notes, Colorado’s hitter-friendly home park could also work against them in convincing a pitcher to voluntarily stick around for the long haul. Gray, though, is the rare arm who hasn’t seemed too affected by Coors Field. His career home/road splits are nearly identical, and Gray’s actually been far better at home this season (3.25 ERA, .167/.264/.314 opponents’ slash line) than on the road (6.75 ERA, .350/.400/.538 line).

Extensions for starting pitchers this close to free agency are atypical, as one might expect. Over the past four seasons, only two starters with five-plus years of MLB service time signed extensions. Righty Sonny Gray inked a three-year, $30.5MM guarantee with the Reds in 2019. That was part of an agreement to facilitate a trade from the Yankees to Cincinnati, though, so it’s not a perfectly analogous situation. Righty Lance McCullers Jr., meanwhile, signed a five-year, $85MM deal with the Astros in March. McCullers is nearly two full years younger than Jon Gray and has a better career track record (even after adjusting for park), so the Rockies hurler would have a hard time commanding that kind of commitment.

Gray’s contractual status makes his situation one of the more pressing for interim general manager Bill Schmidt. He’s not the only Colorado starter drawing attention from rival clubs, though. Rosenthal reports the Rockies are also receiving interest in starter Germán Márquez. That’s certainly no surprise. Márquez has worked to a 3.91 ERA in 71 1/3 frames this season- a strong mark for a pitcher in Coors Field- with quality strikeout and ground ball rates (24.7% and 52.7%, respectively). Márquez has walked quite a few batters this year (11.2%), but he was one of the game’s better strike throwers between 2017-20.

In addition to his strong track record of performance, Márquez is controllable through 2024 under the terms of an extension he signed in April 2019. He’s making just $7.5MM this year, followed by respective salaries of $11MM and $15MM in 2022 and 2023. The deal contains a $16MM club option (with a $2.5MM buyout) for 2024. Given that long-term control, the Rockies needn’t move Márquez this summer, and Rosenthal suggests they’re unlikely to do so.

Between Gray, Márquez and impending free agent shortstop Trevor Story (who doesn’t seem likely to re-sign), the Rockies have a trio of players who should continue to generate plenty of calls from contenders. There’s a particular sense of urgency with regards to Gray and Story, as the organization seeks the core of the next contending club in Colorado.

Chris Owings To Begin Rehab Assignment This Weekend

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  • Rockies utilityman Chris Owings is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Albuquerque this weekend, manager Bud Black told reporters (including Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). He’s already progressed to taking batting practice. Owings, who signed a minor league deal over the winter, made the Opening Day roster and got off to a scorching start over his first seven games. Unfortunately, he suffered a left thumb injury that required surgery in mid-April, keeping him out of action for more than two months.

Rockies Activate Trevor Story

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The Rockies have reinstated shortstop Trevor Story from the 10-day injured list in advance of tonight’s game against the Marlins. He’s back in the starting lineup, hitting fourth in the order. Infielder Alan Trejo was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque to create active roster space. Story has been out since May 28 due to right elbow inflammation.

The Rockies are surely happy to welcome their best player back into the fold, but the bigger focus for the out-of-contention club is on Story’s impending free agency. The 28-year-old is among the top players scheduled to hit the open market in a few months. It certainly looks as if Story won’t wind up re-signing with the Rockies, making him one of the more likely players in the game to change teams this summer. MLBTR’s Steve Adams placed Story second among the league’s top trade candidates last week, only behind teammate Jon Gray.

It hasn’t been a banner season to this point for Story. He was off to just a .255/.322/.424 start before going on the IL. Regardless, there’ll be plenty of interest from contenders as the deadline approaches thanks to his strong track record. Between 2018-20, he hit an impressive .292/.355/.545 with 83 homers in 1571 plate appearances.

Riley Pint Retires

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Rockies right-handed pitching prospect Riley Pint has retired from baseball at the age of 23, Thomas Harding of MLB.com was among those to relay.

Pint – who at times showed off triple-digit velocity – was the fourth overall pick of the Rockies in 2016, at which point outlets such as MLB.com and Baseball America ranked him as the second-best prospect in his class. BA even wrote then that Pint had a chance to turn into a Justin Verlander-type ace in a best-case scenario, though it did note that there were concerns regarding his control.

The Rockies signed Pint to a $4.8MM bonus after they picked him, but his inability to throw strikes on a consistent basis helped lead to his undoing. Pint walked at least five batters per nine at every minor league level from 2016 through this season, and he ever advanced beyond High-A ball. He’ll wrap up his career with a 5.56 ERA and 8.8 K/9 against 7.2 BB/9 across 166 2/3 frames in the minors.

Rockies assistant general manager of player development Zach Wilson has left the door open for Pint to return, but for now, he’s the latest of their recent high picks to retire early. Fellow righties Mike Nikorak (the 27th pick in 2015) and Robert Tyler (38th in 2016) have also stepped away from the game since 2020.

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