Gomber Embraces Coors Field, He Has the Assortment to Thrive at Altitude

For two seasons in St. Louis, right-hander Austin Gomber was the Cardinals handyman. He could start, if needed. He could pitch relief, if needed. But he was never going to be the guy that had the fans and front office shaking their heads in disbelief of how good he could be.

Oh, how times have changed.

The only one of the five players the Rockies received from St. Louis in the trade that sent third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Midwest, Gomber is emerging as a key factor in a Rockies rotation that is actually the strength this year of a team that is known for its big hitters.

Now, he wasn’t an instant success in Colorado.

But he didn’t take long to adjust and give the Rockies and their fans something to enjoy every fifth day when he takes the mound.

Seven starts into his Rockies tenure, Gomber was 2-4 (the Rockies 2-5) . He had a 6.35 ERA, and in 34 innings issued 20 walks.

But then. . .

Well, with his eight shutout innings in the Rockies 3-2 victory against San Diego on Monday night at Coors Field, Gomber is 3-1 in his last seven games. The Rockies have won five of those starts, and Gomber has trimmed nearly three runs of his ERA, which now stands at 3.54.

“First of all, he is settled in and has become more comfortable,” said Rockies manager Bud Black. “He’s not trying to impress all of us. Early on, once the regular season started he tried too hard. That first start against the Dodgers was way out of character from what we saw in spring training. Now, I think he has it together with calmness and poise, and competitiveness on the mental side, which is awesome.

“On the pitching side, there was a little tweak with his delivery, something simple with his step once he started his windup. And there is an improved changeup and use of the changeup. I think it was always there. Now it is frequent, thrown with great confidence. It has a great separation in velocity from his fastball. He is throwing it with great confidence.”

And it shows.

"I always felt I had the stuff, but I didn’t feel I was giving myself a chance to have success,” he said.

That’s where Black entered the picture.

In his day, Black was a left-handed pitcher not unlike Gomber. He wasn’t overpowering, but he had a multiple-mix pitch, and he knew how to mix things up. He won 121 games in a 15-year career, primarily spent as a starting pitcher, and had a 3.84ERA. He had double figure win totals in eight of his 10 full big league seasons.

He was with Kansas City for back-to-back post-season appearances, including the 1985 season in which the Royals won the only World Series in franchise history.

And Gomber was an anxious student.

“I had to be better,” said. “I had to change my mentality. The big thing about pitching is not being afraid. All the time you need to be on attack.”

He has been a lot better, which is apparent by taking a look at his month-by-month ledger for 2021.

Not only has he become a factor in his last seven starts, but Gomber has proven that there is life for a pitcher at Coors Field, even a pitcher with a fastball that might touch 94 miles per hour, but not often, and is only a part of a four-pitch mix that also includes that changeup, curveball and slider.

After a Rockies debut in which he lasted only three innings at Coors Field, allowing one hit but three runs, one earned, and walking seven batters in a loss to the Dodgers, he has gone 3-0 in his last four starts, the Rockies winning the fourth game. He has a season-ERA, debut included, of 0.90 at Coors Field.

That’s right, an ERA that is below 1.00 in what has always been considered a hitter’s haven.

The irony is, Gomber is convinced the underlying key to his turning his season around so abruptly was a start against his former Cardinal teammates in St. Louis. It wasn’t pretty.

“I had really good stuff in St. Louis,” he said of what was a 5-0 loss in which he allowed all five of the runs in five innings.

He gave up six hits, two of which were home runs — a two-run shot to Harrison Bader and a solo home by by opposing pitcher Jack Flaherty, who now has one home run in 122 big-league at-bats, and the other by Harrison Bader, who went into Thursday hitting .219.

“Until after St. Louis I hadn’t been me,” he said. “Partially it was the catchers not knowng me, and me not doing a better job of explaining what I do.”

Gomber, after all, is a true four-pitch mix.

“The first month was frustrating,” he said. “I wasn’t me. It came to me in St. Louis, that I had to pitch better than I did.”

And he has ever since, not only winning games, but dominating other teams at Coors Field, of all places.