Rockies’ Austin Gomber counting on two-seamer to sink opponents

SAN DIEGO — Austin Gomber is not a grip-it-and-rip-it pitcher. The Rockies’ southpaw utilizes a plus changeup and an effective curveball to confound hitters.

But he went into the offseason knowing that he needed to add something new if he wanted to keep hitters honest. So he fiddled with a new grip and started throwing a sinking, two-seam fastball in January. He believes it compliments his four-seamer, which he tends to throw up in the zone.

“I felt like hitters were starting to sit on my off-speed stuff, so we thought, how can I make my fastball more effective?” said Gomber, who’ll make his first start of the season Sunday against the Padres at Petco Park.

Last season, when Gomber was relegated to the bullpen for part of the season, his four-seamer was often an ineffective pitch. He threw it 40% of the time but hitters teed off on the pitch, hitting .376.

Part of the Nolan Arenado trade with St. Louis before the 2021 season, Gomber was terrific in his first season at Coors Field, going 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA across nine starts. He walked only 14 batters while striking out 40 and holding opponents to a .187 average.

But 2022 was a different story. His ERA climbed to 5.72 in nine starts at Coors, with 14 walks and 32 strikeouts. Opponents hit .300 against him in LoDo.

“I haven’t thrown my two-seamer at Coors yet, but I think it’s going to play there,” he said. “My four-seamer is not great, but it’s usable on the road. At home, it gets hit.

“So I wanted to find a fastball that was effective in Denver. So started playing around with the two-seamer.”

Pitching coach Darryl Scott, who worked with Gomber over the winter at the Rockies facility in Scottsdale, Ariz., was amazed at how quickly Gomber has incorporated the new pitch.

“He changed his grip and picked it up immediately,” Scott said. “He said, ‘Wow, that feels really comfortable.’

“But I wanted to make sure that he took this on as purely a grip change. I didn’t want him trying to throw a sinker or try to pronate his hand or mess with his mechanics. I wanted him to throw it just like his four-seamer, but just change the seam orientation. It seemed quick and easy for him and we got the movement we were looking for.”