Searching For A Fifth Starter In Texas
The Rangers solidified the top of their rotation when they landed left-hander MacKenzie Gore in a trade with the Nationals. Gore, Jacob deGrom, and Nathan Eovaldi will form what should be a dominant trio, as long as everyone stays healthy. Former top prospect Jack Leiter delivered a solid campaign in his first full-time look at the big league level, likely earning him the No. 4 spot. After that, it gets murky.
Texas’ starting pitchers led the league with a 3.41 ERA last season, but the club will have to replace a lot of reliable innings in 2026. Veteran Patrick Corbin matched deGrom for the most starts on the team at 30. He’s now a free agent. Tyler Mahle and trade deadline acquisition Merrill Kelly both departed in free agency.
Here’s a look at the remaining mix of options to round out the rotation.
By pedigree, Rocker would be the favorite for the fifth starter job. The 26-year-old was the third overall pick in the 2022 draft. Eric Longenhagen and James Fegan of FanGraphs had Rocker behind only Sebastian Walcott among Rangers prospects midway through last season. That was even after the highly-touted righty was destroyed for 18 earned runs in 20 innings to open the year. He landed on the IL with a shoulder issue in late April.
Rocker made it back to the big leagues for nine starts across June and July. He posted a 4.67 ERA, though a 4.14 xFIP and a 4.34 SIERA suggest he was a bit better than that mark. Rocker found himself back in Triple-A by August. He’s yet to impress for an extended stretch at the highest level, but will likely get the chance to stick in the rotation this spring.
Texas used Latz in a Swiss Army Knife role last year, and he pitched well whenever called upon. The 29-year-old lefty made eight starts and 25 relief appearances this past season. Latz’s versatile gig included a quality start and a three-inning save in the span of a week. He compiled a 2.84 ERA in 85 2/3 innings. It came with an xERA and a SIERA above 4.00, so expectations should be tempered, but there might be enough here for Latz to be a full-fledged starter.
Latz relied on a three-pitch mix that featured a fastball, changeup, and slider. He also mixed in a curveball to right-handed hitters. Latz used each of his three main pitches more than 20% of the time, so the repertoire is deeper than that of a typical reliever. The fastball was dominant, holding hitters to a .193 batting average while recording a +11 Run Value. The changeup got whiffs at a more than 40% clip. Latz will have a role on this team one way or another.
Cal Quantrill, Austin Gomber, Nabil Crismatt
The Rangers brought in this group of veterans on minor league deals. They’ll serve as depth pieces if injuries pop up. One of them could find their way into the rotation if Rocker flops in the spring and the club prefers Latz out of the bullpen.
Quantrill spent 2025 with the Marlins and Braves, posting an ERA over 6.00 across 26 starts. He finished last season in the Rangers’ minor league system. Gomber was cut by the Rockies in August after scuffling through a dozen starts. He latched on with the Cubs on a minor league pact, but didn’t make it to the big-league club. Crismatt actually pitched decently last year, putting together a 2.70 ERA in his first six games with the Diamondbacks. He was crushed out of the bullpen in his final outing of the year, which sullies the final line.
Bring back Corbin
The veteran lefty revived his career in his lone season as a Ranger. After four brutal years to close his time in Washington, Corbin was one of the brightest surprises in the first half of 2025. He notched an ERA under 4.00 through July with the underlying metrics to back it up. Corbin’s performance fell off in the final two months of the season, but he still put up a respectable overall line. Whatever the Rangers did with him, it seemed to work, and he could likely be brought back for a minimal commitment.
Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images
Rangers Sign Austin Gomber To Minor League Deal
The Rangers have signed left-hander Austin Gomber to a minor league deal, according to Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. Gomber’s deal includes an invite to MLB Spring Training next month.
Gomber, 32, was a fourth-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2014. He made his big league debut with the team in 2018 but was traded to the Rockies in the deal that sent Nolan Arenado to St. Louis and has spent most of his MLB career in Colorado at this point. At the time of the trade, Gomber had the look of a solid enough swing man who could potentially fit into a contending rotation. He posted a 3.72 ERA with a 3.89 FIP in his 104 innings of work for St. Louis, and at the time of his trade to Colorado the Rockies were surely hoping he could become a reliable #4 starter for the club alongside existing arms like German Marquez and Kyle Freeland.
The results of Gomber’s time in Colorado were mixed. His 4.53 ERA (good for a 106 ERA+) in 23 starts for the Rockies in his debut season with the club was perfectly solid, but he took a step back in 2022 and ’23 before creeping back up to roughly league average numbers in 2024. A big part of that step backwards was a drop in strikeout rate. Gomber punched out 23.2% of his opponents while walking 8.4% in 2021. Over his next three seasons, he’d manage to shave two points off that walk rate, lowering it to a tidy 6.3%, but that came at the expensive of a much greater dip in strikeouts. From 2022-24, Gomber struck out just 16.3% of his opponents, a nearly seven-point drop relative to 2021. Gomber’s ground ball rate also dipped from a strong 44.3% to a somewhat more pedestrian 40.5%.
While he’s struggled to live up to his solid 2021 season over the past few years, the wheels really came off in 2025. Gomber’s strikeout rate plummeted to just 12.5%, his ground ball rate dropped to 33.2%, and his barrel rate reached an untenable 14.5%. That left the southpaw to get shelled across 12 starts for the Rockies, and he surrendered a 7.49 ERA with a 6.50 FIP across his 57 2/3 innings of work. It was a disastrous display and led the Rockies to release Gomber back in August. He signed with the Cubs on a minor league deal for the stretch run and looked good at Triple-A Iowa for the club, posting an impressive 0.47 ERA in 19 innings of work across four outings (three starts).
That late season success in a new organization creates some reason for optimism, though Gomber was never going to land more than a minor league pact given the 2025 campaign he had at the big league level. That pact has now come in Texas, and Gomber should provide some much-needed rotation depth for a Rangers club in clear need of it even after trading for MacKenzie Gore. A rotation that could feature Gore, Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jack Leiter, and Kumar Rocker looks incredibly strong on paper, but Eovaldi and deGrom both come with substantial injury risk while Rocker has yet to prove himself as a capable MLB regular.
This spring, Gomber could compete with Rocker and swing man Jacob Latz for the fifth and final spot in the Rangers’ rotation. Gomber appears to be the least likely choice to emerge from that camp battle with a rotation spot, and other pitchers could be brought in who would further complicate matters. Even so, however, Gomber still appears fairly well positioned to enter the season with a real shot at breaking into the rotation, whether that comes by way of beating out other potential fifth starters or due to an injury creating an opening at some point during the season.
Players Entering Minor League Free Agency
Major League free agents became eligible to sign with other teams on Thursday, but the minor league free agent market has technically been open since season’s end. MLBTR has published several posts detailing players who had already elected to become minor free agents, but Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (multiple links) has the full account of all the minor league free agents that officially joined their big league counterparts on the open market on Thursday.
This list details only players who have played in the Major Leagues, and whose minor league free agency hasn’t already been covered on MLBTR in the last month.
Athletics: Aaron Brooks, Carlos Duran, CD Pelham, Bryan Lavastida, Nick Martini, Alejo Lopez
Braves: Ian Anderson, Davis Daniel, Enoli Paredes, Amos Willingham, Brian Moran, Jonathan Ornelas, Chandler Seagle, Matthew Batten, Conner Capel
Orioles: Jakson Reetz, Livan Soto, Thaddeus Ward
Red Sox: John Brebbia, Isaiah Campbell, Mark Kolozsvary, Chadwick Tromp, Seby Zavala, Trayce Thompson
Cubs: Yency Almonte, Zach Pop, Caleb Kilian, Austin Gomber, Forrest Wall, Billy Hamilton, Joe Ross, Tommy Romero, Antonio Santos, Tom Cosgrove, Dixon Machado, Nicky Lopez, Carlos Perez
White Sox: Elvis Peguero, Kyle Tyler, Vinny Capra, Chris Rodriguez, Caleb Freeman, Joe Perez, Owen White, Andre Lipcius
Reds: Tejay Antone, Alan Busenitz, Buck Farmer, Josh Staumont, P.J. Higgins, Eric Yang, Levi Jordan, Edwin Rios, Davis Wendzel, Evan Kravetz, Adam Plutko, Charlie Barnes, Alex Young
Guardians: Riley Pint, Tyler Naquin, Parker Mushinski
Rockies: Xzavion Curry, Sean Bouchard, Owen Miller, Karl Kauffmann,
Tigers: Kevin Newman, Brian Serven, Jordan Balazovic, Nick Margevicius, Blair Calvo
Astros: Jon Singleton, Joe Hudson, Kenedy Corona, Greg Jones, Matt Bowman, Luis Contreras, Tyler Ivey, John Rooney
Royals: John Gant, Spencer Turnbull, Bobby Dalbec, Diego Castillo, Geoff Hartlieb, Jordan Groshans, Nick Pratto, Isan Diaz, Stephen Nogosek, Nick Robertson, Joey Krehbiel, Noah Murdock, Ryan Hendrix
Angels: Shaun Anderson, Brandon Drury, Yolmer Sanchez, Ben Gamel, Evan White, Cavan Biggio, Logan Davidson, Travis Blankenhorn, Oscar Colas, Kelvin Caceres, Dakota Hudson, Chad Stevens, Angel Felipe, Jordan Holloway, Victor Gonzalez
Dodgers: Michael Grove, Luken Baker, Giovanny Gallegos, Kyle Funkhouser, Chris Okey, CJ Alexander, Zach Penrod
Marlins: Jack Winkler, Lane Ramsey
Brewers: Luis Urias, Oliver Dunn, Julian Merryweather, Daz Cameron, Drew Avans, Josh Maciejewski, Jared Oliva
Twins: Jose Miranda, Anthony Misiewicz, Jonah Bride, Thomas Hatch, Daniel Duarte, Connor Gillispie
Mets: Joey Meneses, Jose Azocar, Joe La Sorsa, Gilberto Celestino, Ty Adcock, Bryce Montes de Oca, Yacksel Rios, Oliver Ortega, Luis De Los Santos
Yankees: Kenta Maeda, Jeimer Candelario, Rob Brantly, Andrew Velazquez, Jose Rojas, Joel Kuhnel, Wilking Rodriguez
Phillies: Matt Manning, Adonis Medina, Lucas Sims, Jacob Waguespack, Phil Bickford, Rodolfo Castro, Oscar Mercado, Brewer Hicklen, Christian Arroyo, Payton Henry
Pirates: Brett Sullivan, Nick Solak, Nelson Velazquez, Beau Burrows, Ryder Ryan
Cardinals: Zach Plesac, Anthony Veneziano, Tyler Matzek, Zack Weiss, Drew Rom, Aaron Wilkerson
Padres: Eguy Rosario, Tim Locastro, Reiss Knehr, Nate Mondou
Giants: Sean Hjelle, Miguel Diaz, Max Stassi, Sam Huff, Cole Waites, Drew Ellis, Ethan Small
Mariners: Michael Fulmer, Casey Lawrence, Collin Snider, Jesse Hahn, Nick Anderson, Josh Fleming, Austin Shenton, Jacob Nottingham, Beau Taylor, Cade Marlowe, Jack Lopez, Michael Mariot, Hagen Danner
Rays: Cooper Hummel, Jonathan Hernandez, Jamie Westbrook, Tres Barrera
Rangers: Omar Narvaez, Cal Quantrill, Ty Blach, Alan Trejo, Joe Barlow, Cory Abbott, Michael Plassmeyer, Alex De Goti
Blue Jays: Eloy Jimenez, Buddy Kennedy, Joe Mantiply, Elieser Hernandez, Rene Pinto, Adam Kloffenstein
Nationals: Francisco Mejia, Juan Yepez, Joan Adon, CJ Stubbs, Parker Dunshee, Erick Mejia, Adrian Sampson, Delino DeShields
Cubs Sign Austin Gomber To Minor League Deal
The Cubs signed left-hander Austin Gomber to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Iowa. He’s on the mound tonight against Kansas City’s top affiliate in his organizational debut. The MLB.com transaction tracker indicates he signed the contract on August 26 even though it wasn’t announced until today.
That’s a relevant distinction because it keeps open the long shot possibility that Gomber could get a look in the postseason. He was in the organization before the beginning of September, so he’ll be eligible for the playoff roster even though he’s not currently on the 40-man roster. That obviously wouldn’t be Plan A for the team, but the southpaw provides rotation depth for a team that is without Michael Soroka and Jameson Taillon at the moment. The Cubs also brought in Joe Ross on a minor league deal.
Gomber was released by the Rockies last month. The soft-tossing southpaw missed the first couple months with shoulder discomfort. He was tattooed for a 7.49 earned run average in 12 starts since being activated from the injured list in the middle of June. Gomber didn’t pitch well at home or on the road. He struggled to miss bats no matter the venue, posting a career-worst 12.5% strikeout rate across 57 2/3 innings. Gomber’s fastball averaged a little over 89 MPH, down a tick from last year and three miles per hour from the first few seasons of his career. He was a passable fifth starter last year, turning in a 4.75 ERA while making 30 starts.
The Rockies are on the hook for what remains of Gomber’s $6.35MM salary. The Cubs would owe him the prorated $760K league minimum for any time he spends in the big leagues. He’ll be a free agent again at the beginning of the offseason.
Rockies Release Austin Gomber
The Rockies have released veteran lefty Austin Gomber, per a team announcement. (Thomas Harding of MLB.com reported the move just minutes prior to its announcement.) He was reportedly placed on outright waivers earlier this week. Given that he’s now being released, it’s clear he wasn’t claimed. Colorado will give his 40-man spot to lefty reliever Lucas Gilbreath, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Albuquerque. The Rox also placed righty Dugan Darnell on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his left hip and recalled righty Angel Chivilli from Triple-A.
Gomber, 31, was the lone remaining player from the Rockies’ return in their trade of Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals. He was only a few weeks from reaching free agency anyhow, as he crossed six years of major league service earlier in the season, but he’ll now head to the open market a bit earlier than previously scheduled.
A shoulder injury kept Gomber on the injured list from Opening Day into mid-June. He’s since made 12 starts and struggled more than he has at any point in his career. Gomber has been a fifth starter over his time with the Rockies, pitching to a middling 5.08 ERA in 544 innings from 2021-24, but he’s been tattooed for a 7.49 earned run average in 57 2/3 innings with the Rockies in 2025.
Though he’s never thrown hard, Gomber’s average fastball this year is sitting at a career-low 89.5 mph. That’s down one mile from last year and down a bit more than two miles per hour over his first season with Colorado back in 2021. His already low strikeout rate has bottomed out at a career-worst 12.5%, and his 7.2% swinging-strike rate is tied (with teammate Antonio Senzatela) for ninth-worst among the 257 pitchers who’ve tossed at least 50 innings in 2025.
Despite Gomber’s sub-par results through his four seasons in Denver, the Rockies opted to tender him a contract this past offseason. He’s being paid $6.35MM this season, with about $1.26MM of that sum yet to be paid out over the final month-plus of the year. The Rockies will remain on the hook for the entirety of that amount, minus the prorated league minimum for any time Gomber may spend on another team’s big league roster.
Gilbreath, 29, posted solid numbers with Colorado in his first two seasons from 2021-22: 85 2/3 innings pitched, 16 holds, one save, 3.78 ERA, 25% strikeout rate (albeit with an ugly 13.2% walk rate). He looked like he’d carved out a role in the Rockies’ bullpen, but a UCL tear during spring training in 2023 wiped out his entire season and limited him to just one big league inning in 2024. The Rockies passed him through waivers earlier this season, and he’s now back in the majors for the first time this year and will look to get back into just his second MLB game since the conclusion of the 2022 campaign.
It’s been a tough year for Gilbreath in Albuquerque. Granted, that’s an extremely hitter-friendly setting, but a 6.21 ERA, 11.8% walk rate and 1.91 HR/9 rate can’t solely be blamed on league environment. He’s been a bit better of late (5.29 ERA in his past 17 innings), but the results still aren’t all that encouraging — nor is the fact that a heater that averaged 93.8 mph in 2022 is now sitting 89.8 mph three years and one major surgery later. Be that as it may, he’ll be summoned to the majors to give the Rockies a fresh arm and perhaps to audition for a 2026 spot in the season’s final few weeks.
Rockies Reportedly Place Austin Gomber On Waivers
The Rockies have placed scuffling starting pitcher Austin Gomber on outright waivers, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Gomber has not been designated for assignment and remains with the Rockies while the waiver process is pending. Outright waivers are irrevocable, so he’d change teams within the next 48 hours if another team places a claim.
That said, it’s frankly difficult to imagine another club picking Gomber up. A claiming team would pay the approximate $1.33MM remaining on the lefty-hander’s $6.35MM salary. Gomber is an impending free agent, so it’d make no sense for a non-contending club to do that. Contenders would have a difficult time finding a roster spot for a pitcher who has been shelled for a 7.49 earned run average in 57 2/3 innings.
Gomber missed the first two and a half months battling shoulder discomfort. He has been in Warren Schaeffer’s rotation since June 15 but hasn’t managed a single quality start in 12 appearances. Gomber did get through five innings while allowing two or fewer runs in three of his first four appearances. Opponents have tagged him for 36 earned runs across 38 innings during his past eight times out.
The 31-year-old Gomber has never thrown hard. His fastball sat in the 91-92 MPH range earlier in his career but is down to 89-90 this season. It’s possible that’s related to the shoulder discomfort, but it surely contributes to career-worst strikeout and home run rates. Nevertheless, there’s no real harm for the Rox in putting Gomber on waivers. If he clears, they can keep him on the roster. They could also decide to simply release him rather than waiting for him to hit the market in two months.
Latest On Rockies’ Trade Candidates
After already dealing Ryan McMahon to the Yankees, the Rockies are open for business heading into Thursday’s deadline as one of the few true sellers on the market. Another trade with the Yankees could be a possibility, as The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty reports that New York has interest in Colorado reliever Jake Bird among many other names on the bullpen market.
Bird’s first three Major League seasons (2022-24) saw the right-hander post a 4.53 ERA, 19.3% strikeout rate, and 9.7% walk rate across 177 innings for the Rockies, all in a relief capacity apart from three pseudo-starts as an opener. His 4.05 ERA and 9.1% walk rate in 53 1/3 innings in 2025 are pretty comparable, but the big difference is a strikeout rate that has leapt up to 26.7%. Above-average whiff and chase rates support the increase in missed bats, and Bird’s solid barrel and grounder rates have also helped him limit damage at Coors Field. Interestingly, Bird’s home/road splits this year are actually much better in Denver (2.48 ERA in 29 innings) than away from home (5.92 ERA in 24 1/3 innings).
A 3.19 SIERA paints an even more flattering picture of Bird’s improved performance, as a .352 BABIP has inflated the reliever’s ERA. Adopting the sweeper as his primary pitch seemed to have unlocked both Bird’s strikeout ability, and it has helped his curveball regain its 2023 status as a plus offering. Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake is a known proponent of the sweeper, which likely adds to New York’s interest in the Rox reliever.
Bird will reach arbitration eligibility for the first time this winter, so he is controlled through the 2028 season. The Rockies are also reportedly open to offers on two other controllable relievers in Victor Vodnik and Seth Halvorsen, as Colorado’s willingness to take a broader approach to the deadline represents a change in direction for the organization. The Rockies had been traditionally wary about even moving pending free agents at the deadline, yet the new low of the team’s dreadful 27-78 record seems to have convinced the organization that larger changes are necessary.
Even controllable relief pitching only has so much present value to a team that may be years away from contending, so it makes sense for the Rox to consider moving some of their bullpen arms. Given the natural volatility of relief pitching and Bird’s lack of a track record, selling high on his current success might well be a wise move for GM Bill Schmidt.
Beyond the bullpen arms, Colorado is getting hits on other players on the roster. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand writes that Hunter Goodman, Brenton Doyle, Kyle Freeland, and Austin Gomber are all getting varying degrees of trade attention, though it is very unlikely that Goodman or Doyle are moved. Goodman is enjoying a breakout season that resulted in an All-Star citation. Doyle is struggling through a rough year that has seen his bat and center field glovework both take big steps backwards from 2024, but the Rockies don’t seem likely to sell low.
Goodman and Doyle are both controlled through the 2028 season, whereas Gomber is an impending free agent and Freeland is under contract through the 2026 campaign. Freeland is owed around $5.33MM for the remainder of this season and then $16MM in 2026, with a $17MM vesting player option available for 2027 if Freeland tosses at least 170 innings next year.
This price tag makes it pretty unlikely that Freeland will be dealt, unless Colorado was to eat most or all of that remaining salary. The southpaw has a 5.24 ERA over 101 1/3 innings in 2025, and a 5.03 ERA in 840 2/3 frames since Opening Day 2019. Because Freeland has spent his entire career in Denver’s thin air, there’s a bit of an x-factor in gauging how well he could perform outside of such a hitter-friendly environment, even if his lifetime splits aren’t too drastic (4.85 ERA at home, 4.24 ERA on the road). Rival teams might not be intrigued enough by this potential upside to the take the plunge on a trade unless the Rockies indeed covered a lot of Freeland’s salary, which might not make it worth it for a Rox team that still needs someone to eat innings.
Gomber is much less expensive and a rental player, so a rival team might have more willingness to take a flier on the southpaw as a depth arm. Feinsand notes Gomber’s superior road splits to his work at Coors Field, but the overall results haven’t been great, as Gomber has a 5.14 ERA in 578 1/3 innings since joining the Rockies prior to the 2021 season. That includes a 6.03 ERA in seven starts and 34 1/3 frames this year, as shoulder problems kept Gomber off the mound until mid-June.
Rockies Activate Austin Gomber
TODAY: Colorado officially activated Gomber from the 60-day IL. In corresponding moves, right-hander Zach Agnos was optioned to Triple-A, and Ryan Feltner was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Feltner was initially placed on the injured list on April 29 due to back spasms, and since he wasn’t expected back until late June anyway, the shift to the 60-day IL only formalizes that timeline.
JUNE 12: The Rockies will reinstate lefty Austin Gomber from the 60-day injured list this weekend, reports Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. He’ll start Sunday’s game in Atlanta, where he’ll take on reigning Cy Young winner Chris Sale. The Rox announced that Carson Palmquist, who’d been in line to start that game, was optioned to Triple-A today. Righty Anthony Molina was recalled from Triple-A, adding another arm to the ‘pen in the meantime. Colorado will need to make a 40-man roster move to reinstate Gomber prior to Sunday’s start.
Gomber, 31, will make his season debut when he takes the mound Sunday. He’s been out all year due to a left shoulder injury but has looked sharp in four Triple-A rehab starts, tossing a dozen innings with three runs allowed on six hits and five walks. He’s fanned 13 of 48 opponents along the way.
In 2024, Gomber tossed a career-high 165 innings over the course of 30 starts, working to a 4.75 ERA. His 16.7% strikeout rate was well shy of the 22% league average, but his 5.5% walk rate was quite strong. Gomber struggled with home runs, as one would expect for a fly-ball pitcher who’s prone to hard contact and plays his home games at Coors Field; he yielded an average of nearly two homers per nine frames at home and a total of 1.64 HR/9 on the season overall.
It’s a fifth starter’s profile, but the pitching-starved Rockies valued his durability and tendered Gomber a contract that pays him $6.35MM in his final year of club control. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end and, if he can get out to a decent start to his 2025 campaign, could end up as a trade chip for the Rox ahead of next month’s deadline as well. Colorado traditionally tends to avoid trading away too many veterans even in non-contending seasons, but at 12-55 with a -202 run differential, there are no delusions of a second-half run. Shipping out Gomber won’t bring much of a return, prospect-wise, but at the very least they’d trim some payroll and add some depth to the minor league ranks.
Kris Bryant To Undergo Ablation Procedure On Back
Kris Bryant is headed for an ablation procedure on his lower back tomorrow, Rockies manager Bud Black tells reporters (including Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post). The skipper called it “a minimally invasive procedure” and expressed optimism that Bryant could resume baseball activities within a few days.
It’s nevertheless the latest frustration as Bryant tries to manage his persistent back pain. He has been out since April 14 with what the team called lumbar degenerative disc disease. It’s the ninth injured list placement of the former MVP’s three-plus seasons in Colorado. Six of them have been related to his back and/or side. Bryant also battled left foot issues early in his Rox tenure and fractured a finger in 2023.
Bryant owns a .244/.324/.370 slash line over 170 games in a Colorado uniform. The Rockies used him exclusively at designated hitter early this season to reduce his workload. He hit .154 with two extra-base hits (both doubles) in 11 games. This is the fourth season of his seven-year, $182MM free agent deal. Bryant unsurprisingly made clear last month that he’s not thinking about retirement.
Black provided a few other injury updates this evening (via Thomas Harding of MLB.com). Infielders Ezequiel Tovar and Thairo Estrada are ramping up baseball activities, while starter Austin Gomber has pushed his long toss regimen to 90 feet. It’s most relevant regarding Gomber, who has been out all season with shoulder inflammation. He opened the season on a rehab assignment but suffered a setback that necessitated a move to the 60-day IL last month. Gomber received a platelet-rich plasma injection and is back throwing, though he’s still a ways off another rehab stint.
Rockies Place Ezequiel Tovar On 10-Day Injured List
2:14PM: Gomber provided an update on his situation to Just Baseball’s Patrick Lyons, saying that he hasn’t thrown since March 28 and that he received a PRP injection two weeks ago. “It’s definitely going to be more of a buildup than it was in Spring Training,” Gomber said, though he noted that the range of motion in his left arm has returned in the aftermath of the injection.
12:16PM: The Rockies announced a collection of roster moves, including the news that shortstop Ezequiel Tovar has been placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 16) due to a left hip contusion. Outfielder Brenton Doyle was also placed on the bereavement list (retroactive to April 17), and Colorado filled the two roster spots by calling up outfielder Jordan Beck from Triple-A and selecting Aaron Schunk‘s contract from Triple-A. Left-hander Austin Gomber was moved to the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man roster spot for Schunk.
Tovar’s injury adds to what has been a lackluster start to the shortstop’s third full MLB season. While far from the only Rockies hitter who is struggling at the plate, Tovar is hitting only .212/.257/.303 through 70 plate appearances, after he delivered a .269/.295/.469 slash line (plus 26 homers and a league-leading 45 doubles) in 2024. Colorado’s road-heavy early schedule might have something to do with Tovar’s slow start and the team’s lack of hitting in general to date, yet naturally the Rox were hopeful that Tovar’s continued development would include more consistency outside of Coors Field.
Beck is a former top prospect that will get another chance to show what he can do after a lackluster 207 MLB plate appearances over the last two seasons. He’ll be joined on the active roster by Schunk, who also made his big league debut in 2024 in the form of 39 games and 98 PA (with a .234/.265/.330 slash line) for Colorado. Schunk has spent most of his minor league career at third base but he has plenty of experience at the middle infield spots, so he can act as a utility infielder to add depth with Tovar out. Kyle Farmer seems likeliest to move into an everyday shortstop role in Tovar’s absence, and Farmer has already been a fixture in the Rockies’ lineup given his hot bat.
Gomber started the season on the 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation, and his move to the 60-day now puts him on the sidelines until at least the last week of May. Gomber was seemingly on track for a relatively quick return to action in early April but his second minor league rehab start was scratched due to more shoulder inflammation, and that setback has now considerably lengthened the southpaw’s time away from Colorado’s rotation.