This is the latest Rockies starter turning heads

This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

DENVER -- Rockies rookie right-hander Tanner Gordon arrived in a July 24, 2023, trade with the Braves, but it was only partially accurate that Friday night’s start at Coors Field was against his old club.

Gordon, a sixth-round pick by Atlanta in the 2019 MLB Draft, not only never pitched for the Braves -- but he was never a part of their Major League camp during Spring Training.

“Obviously, I know all their names because I was with the organization for so long,” Gordon said. “I never played with any of them. I played with Spencer Strider, but he’s a pitcher [and on the injured list]. There are familiar faces in the dugout -- a bunch of staff that I knew. In terms of playing with the guys that I faced, I don’t think I faced any of them.”

Gordon was unkind to strangers. He struck out seven and walked zero while holding the Braves to two runs on six hits in the Rockies’ 6-5 victory. Gordon left with a lead, but he settled for a no-decision.

This was not the first time he arrived sight unseen and made a good impression.

Manager Bud Black watched video of Gordon, 26, while the club was executing the trade last summer that also brought in right-hander Victor Vodnik, the team's rookie closer, in exchange for veteran righty reliever Pierce Johnson.

But Black never saw Gordon pitch -- not even in a bullpen session -- until March 13. That’s when -- after remembering what he had watched last summer -- Black brought Gordon in from Minor League camp to start against the D-backs at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

Gordon’s two scoreless innings that day confirmed what Black had seen on tape.

“The delivery looked right,” Black said. “In the Spring Training game, he threw a ton of strikes. It was a little sneaky fastball, he had a little change and good feel for the breaking ball.”

Opponents might want to see less of Gordon. He has Black and the Rockies wanting more.

The latest starter that the building Rockies have introduced to the Majors, Gordon has gone at least six innings in three of his five starts. Even in his last outing against Atlanta, he went five innings -- long enough to be eligible for the first career win that continues to elude him.

Gordon has a 6.15 ERA, but two starts ago on Aug. 3, he held the Padres to one hit over 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball while striking out four. But he again took a no-decision in the club’s 3-2 loss.

Over his five starts, Gordon has 23 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings.

At 6-foot-5 and with a stretchy delivery, Gordon gets plenty of extension toward the plate -- meaning the ball comes out closer to the hitter and, especially with his fastball, gets to the plate even quicker. He also has poise at a heady time in his life.

The names on the Braves’ lineup card were like those from other teams -- stars whose exploits he already knows.

“One of my buddies asked me about it the other day,” said Gordon, who is scheduled to make his next start on Wednesday afternoon against the D-backs at Chase Field.

. “Before the game, I see the lineup and go, ‘Oh, this is Manny Machado, this is Marcell Ozuna.’ Whoever. But when I get on the mound, I’ve got a job to do, and they’ve got a job to do. Mano a mano.”