'Pretty effective': Gomber throws gem in win

DENVER -- The Rockies traded Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals in February. Not that the internet ever needs a reason, but it sure was vocal and it’s ongoing. But the Rockies counter with each start by left-hander Austin Gomber, and maybe the answer is worth hearing.

With six scoreless innings and a career-high nine strikeouts in Saturday night’s 7-4 victory over the Marlins at Coors Field, Gomber has held opponents to two or fewer runs in 10 of his last 12 starts.

“When I visualize what he can do, it looks like that,” Rockies manager Bud Black said.

Considered a depth piece with the Cards, who often bounced him between the rotation and the bullpen, Gomber showed up with a four-pitch mix that works nicely in the Mile High City.

MLB Quality of Pitch ranks Gomber in the top 5 percent overall in pitch quality, with his curve in the top 2 percent, his slider top 4 percent, fastball in the top 5 percent and his changeup in the top 22 percent. Saturday, he buzzed through the Marlins’ lineup, gave up five scattered hits and no walks, and improved to 5-1 with 1.70 ERA in eight home starts (eight earned runs in 42 1/3 innings).

“Everything that I do that’s in my arsenal, my attack plan, I did a little bit of all of it tonight,” Gomber said. “When I’m able to do that, I’m usually pretty effective.”

In a start that showed why he is one of the reasons the Rox are 37-21 at home, Gomber left with a 7-0 lead. Rookie Connor Joe drove in a career-high four runs, but the Rockies needed Daniel Bard’s 18th save to secure the win. Gomber’s performance was a bounce-back from Sunday, when he gave up four first-inning runs before being pulled at San Diego.

Not expected to contend this year, the Rockies needed to move the large salary and lengthy commitment of Arenado -- a star who had grown unhappy. The complicated deal required the Rockies to agree to send the Cardinals up to $51 million (it could be less if Arenado exercises one of his two opt-out years). It’s way less than the $199 million needed to keep him for the rest of his contract.

But the idea of giving up a superstar -- who is having his usual standout year with 22 homers and 67 RBIs this year with the Cards -- and paying money, and getting back five players hardly anyone had heard of didn’t sit well with fans, but was worth plenty of saucy comments and posts.

“I get the feedback on it, but it’s not something that I can control,” Gomber said. “They didn’t put a sign-up sheet and ask who wanted to be involved in the trade.”

The Rockies’ research pointed to a guy who didn’t walk batters. Naturally, he walked seven in three innings against the Dodgers at Coors in his Rockies debut, and four on the road against the Giants in his next outing. Since then, he has walked more than two hitters just once.

The early walks were unexpected, and Gomber admitted he was “trying to do too much.” But how he corrected the issue jibed with pre-trade research on how Gomber is constituted. He showed those desirable traits again after his rough start at San Diego.

“He's a very good self-evaluator,” Black said. “He does a great job of assessing his performance -- what went wrong, what he can improve upon, what he can continue to work on -- and he makes the necessary adjustments. It's pretty straightforward.”

Gomber is sitting pretty in a rotation that the club believes can turn around quickly, although offensive and bullpen pieces must be added. And while the jury on the Minor League pieces will be lengthy, one of them -- corner infielder Elehuris Montero -- has a club-record 22 home runs at Double-A Hartford. Shortstop Mateo Gil and right-handed pitchers Tony Locey and Jake Somers are in the early stages of writing their stories on the trade.

If nothing else, the five months of the season so far since the trade serve as a lesson against extreme, instant trade breakdowns -- and parroting them without an open mind.

At the time, Gomber could look past the Twitter noise and see his big chance.

“I was super-excited about the opportunity that was in front of me,” Gomber said. “It was pretty consistent from the second that I got traded over here that they were going to give me the opportunity to start, which was something that I’ve been wanting for a couple of years now.”