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Rockies Place Austin Gomber, Connor Joe On 10-Day Injured List

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Sep. 5: As expected, the Rockies have indeed moved Gomber to the 60-day IL in order to select Feltner, per a team announcement. Right-hander Antonio Santos was optioned to make room for Feltner on the active roster.

Sep. 4: The Rockies announced a series of roster moves today, including the placement of left-hander Austin Gomber and first baseman/outfielder Connor Joe on the 10-day injured list.  According to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding, Gomber will be moved to the 60-day IL tomorrow when the Rockies select the contract of right-hander Ryan Feltner from Double-A, as Feltner will make his MLB debut by taking Gomber’s spot as the scheduled starter against the Braves.

Right-hander Jordan Sheffield has been activated off the 60-day IL, making his return after first hitting the IL on June 5 due to a right lat strain.  In addition, infielder Joshua Fuentes has been called up from Triple-A.

Gomber is suffering from spondylolysis, or a stress fracture in his lower back (also known as pars defect).  The 60-day IL placement will end Gomber’s first Colorado season on a painful note, though he did make a solid accounting of himself in his first full season as a starter.

Acquired from the Cardinals as part of the Nolan Arenado trade, Gomber provided some silver lining for disgruntled Rockies fans by posting a 4.53 ERA/4.28 ERA over 115 1/3 innings.  Gomber missed a month due to forearm tightness, and it’s fair to speculate that Gomber’s back problems may have impacted his recent performance, as the southpaw has a 8.50 ERA over his last four starts and 18 innings.  Looking at the Statcast numbers, Gomber’s strikeout and walk rate are roughly middle-of-the-road, though he has been good at limiting hard contact.

Joe left Friday’s game due to his injury, which has now been termed as a right hamstring strain.  As manager Bud Black told reporters (including The Athletic’s Nick Groke), “it’s not a definite season-ending injury,” so Joe could potentially see some more action in 2021 if his hamstring cooperates.  Signed to a minor league contract last winter, Joe has hit well over 211 plate appearances with the Rockies, batting .285/.379/.469 with eight home runs.

Feltner was Colorado’s fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft, and the Ohio State product will make the jump to the majors without the benefit of any Triple-A experience.  In 110 combined innings at high-A and Double-A ball this season, Feltner has a 2.62 ERA and 27.53% strikeout rate over 20 starts.  The big league promotion is a nice late birthday present for Feltner, who turned 25 last Thursday.

Quick Hits: Rockies, Cron, A’s, Mathias, Angels

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C.J. Cron appears to be the favorite to claim the Rockies’ open first base job, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post as part of a reader mailbag. Signed to a minor-league deal in February, Cron is competing with Josh Fuentes and fellow non-roster invitee Greg Bird. Installing Cron at first would allow Fuentes to see action at multiple corner positions off the bench. That might make it tough to also carry Bird as a lefty bench bat, although Saunders notes there’s a chance all three players make the season-opening active roster, particularly if Brendan Rodgers is forced to start the year on the injured list after straining his hamstring. Cron and Bird would each need to be added to the 40-man roster if they make the team, although Colorado currently has one open 40-man spot.

More from around the sport:

  • Athletics left-hander A.J. Puk made his Cactus League debut today. He threw approximately 30 pitches this afternoon and plans to toss around 45 in his next outing, writes Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. Manager Bob Melvin has mentioned Puk as a potential option for the season-opening rotation if Mike Fiers, suffering from hip inflammation, isn’t ready by the first week of April. It remains to be seen if Puk will have enough time to sufficiently build up strength for the start of the season himself.
  • The Brewers placed Mark Mathias on the 60-day injured list yesterday to create roster space for Travis Shaw. It seems Mathias will be on the shelf for significantly longer than that two-month minimum. The utilityman suffered a posterior labrum tear, he told reporters (via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Mathias is awaiting a second opinion on the possibility of rehabbing the injury without surgery; even if he can avoid going under the knife, the 26-year-old says he’s likely looking at a three to four month layoff. Mathias made his MLB debut last season.
  • Today’s news that Felix Peña likely won’t be available for Opening Day leaves the Angels’ bullpen down an important arm. After the injury, general manager Perry Minasian acknowledged the club might now go outside the organization to acquire additional relief help, Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic was among those to relay. Free agency still offers a few possibilities, with 32-year-old righty Shane Greene arguably the top arm available. Greene’s market has been rather quiet all offseason, but he continues to throw in anticipation of an opportunity, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).

Rockies Place Ryan McMahon On 10-Day IL, Promote Josh Fuentes

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The Rockies have placed infielder Ryan McMahon on the 10-day injured list due to a left elbow strain, as per a team announcement.  Infielder Josh Fuentes has been called up from Triple-A to take McMahon’s roster spot.

McMahon has been in the starting lineup for seven of Colorado’s eight games as either a first baseman or second baseman, getting more time at first base since Daniel Murphy hit the IL.  There hasn’t been much production yet for McMahon (.200/.310/.280 over 29 PA) as the former top prospect is still looking to break through at the Major League level.  McMahon has only a .661 OPS in 255 PA for the Rockies over the last three seasons, though the team was hoping McMahon could take that next step in more of a regular role this season.  McMahon and Garrett Hampson were expected to split time at second base in the wake of DJ LeMahieu’s departure.

With both Murphy and McMahon now sidelined, Mark Reynolds, Pat Valaika, and Fuentes are likely to handle the bulk of the time at first base until McMahon is back.  There hasn’t yet been any indication about the severity of McMahon’s injury, though it seems reasonable to assume he’ll return before Murphy, who isn’t expected back until May.

Fuentes’ promotion caps off his unlikely rise through the Rockies’ farm system.  After going undrafted, Fuentes signed on with the Colorado organization as a minor league free agent and proved his value, hitting .300/.349/.477 over 2034 PA in the minors.  This included a big 2018 season that saw him named as both the MVP and Rookie Of The Year in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.  With extensive experience at both first base and third base, Fuentes also provides some extra backup at the hot corner for his cousin, Rockies superstar Nolan Arenado.

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