Struggling Rockies veteran left-hander Austin Gomber, part of the 2021 trade that sent Nolan Arenado to St. Louis, was unconditionally released by the team on Friday.
Gomber was 0-7 with a 7.49 ERA in 12 starts this season. He is the only starting pitcher in the majors this season to have 12 or more outings with no quality starts.
Gomber was placed on outright waivers early this week, a hint that his time in Colorado was nearing an end. When no team claimed him after 48 hours, the Rockies decided to release him. A team would have had to pay about $1.3 million remaining on Gomber’s $6.35 million salary if they had picked him up.
Gomber, 31, was scheduled to become a free agent at the end of the season.
The lefty is in the middle of a bad stretch. Tuesday night, the Dodgers hammered him for seven runs on nine hits in a season-low three innings. Los Angeles hit a pair of solo homers in the second inning off Gomber — first by leadoff Alex Call and then Shohei Ohtani hit his 44th homer of the season.
After Tuesday night’s game, Gomber was candid about his struggles, saying he felt “a little bit lost out there right now.”
“I don’t really have any confidence or conviction,” Gomber continued. “I don’t really have an identity of what I’m trying to do … and I’m just searching as I go. It’s a tough place to be, out there trying to figure out what’s going to work on the fly.”
Gomber, who missed the first two and a half months of the season because of shoulder soreness, said Tuesday that he was feeling fine.
When the Rockies traded Arenado to St. Louis in February 2021, they also received infielders Mateo Gil and Elehuris Montero and pitchers Tony Locey and Jake Sommers. Now, none of the five players remain with the organization.
In other roster moves on Friday, the club selected the contract of lefty reliever Lucas Gilbreath from Triple-A Albuquerque, recalled right-handed reliever Angel Chivilli from Triple-A, and placed right-handed reliever Dugan Darnell on the 15-day injured list with left hip inflammation.
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