DENVER -- One reason that left-hander Austin Gomber is on a run of solid pitching with the Rockies is that he refuses to give in to conventional wisdom.
Curveballs aren’t supposed to break properly at altitude. And being a fly ball pitcher whose home games are at Coors Field is a recipe for failure. And after a seven-walk, three-inning mess against the Dodgers in his first start this season, local wisdom was that the Rockies traded star third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals and received -- well, you saw what happened.
But Gomber, 27, has posted a 3.38 ERA in four starts, three of them solid. His curve, which can flutter in at 78-79 mph, a well-spotted changeup and good-enough fastball have been such assets that hitters have rarely hit him hard. Going into Friday’s game, the 30.8 percent hard-hit rate against him was the 11th-lowest among Major League pitchers. Gomber is one spot behind teammate Jon Gray, who has a more classic power mix.
Two of the last three years (the other marred by biceps tendinitis), Gomber showed promise in spots with a Cardinals team that didn’t always have a spot for him. But he came to believe in his stuff, and he brought it with him to Colorado with confidence.
“It definitely doesn’t come easy,” Gomber said. “That’s just kind of been the evolution of my game. I definitely didn’t command four pitches for strikes when I got to the big leagues -- even at points last year at times. When you first get to the big leagues, everything’s coming at you 1,000 miles per hour and you’re just trying to fit in.
“Then you get to the point where you’re not necessarily comfortable, but confident in the ability to pitch here every five days. Once I got to that mental step, it was more like being able to focus pitch to pitch.”
In Rockies history, Gomber’s style puts him in rare territory. Through four starts, Gomber has had a 38.5 percent fly-ball rate -- extreme for a Rockies pitcher. Since MLB.com began tracking pitches in 2008, seven Colorado pitchers have had fly-ball rates of 35 percent or higher; Ubaldo Jimenez (35 percent) finished with a 2.88 ERA in '20, while none of the others finished below 4.55.
But Gomber’s approach engenders confidence, rather than warning signs.
“Unpredictably is key,” Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster said. “He has a four-pitch mix he uses at any time.
“He made a small delivery change after the first start, and we discussed mindset and anchoring his thoughts to positive aspects of his ability. His curveball is well above average and the hitter has to respect it at all times. He’s been a rock.”
Say when
Rockies closer Daniel Bard did a Zoom meeting Friday wearing a dark gray T-shirt, the front of which was decorated with a white silhouetted, mustachioed cowboy with the slogan, “Say When.” With bullpen roles still being established -- the series with the Mets and Astros marking the first time that the club's relief corps threw strikes with consistency -- relievers have adopted a philosophy to be prepared. It’s a key wardrobe piece for relievers, bullpen coach Darryl Scott and bullpen catchers.
“When I first got called up in Boston, something was already in place -- we were pirates -- nothing to do with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but like a pirate theme,” Bard said. “We had a skull and crossbones flag hanging in the bullpen. We had T-shirts. We had pirate names. We had a good time with it and it gave us a mentality to rally around, an identity to rally around.
“So I took that, pushed it to cowboys because there are a lot of ways you can go with that. T-shirts were just part of that.”
Moving forward
• Black said that left-hander Kyle Freeland threw from the slope of the mound Friday, and on Saturday will have his first bullpen session since sustaining a left shoulder strain on March 23 during a Spring Training outing. The outing signals that he is making strong progress toward a return.
• Infielder Brendan Rodgers, who is out with a right hamstring strain, took a few grounders Friday and has been taking batting practice on the field this week. However, he hasn’t been cleared for running on dirt and grass.