On Saturday the Rockies lost… but they also won. In split squad action they were beat by the Milwaukee Brewers primarily due to a rough four run appearance from Victor Vodnik. At the same time, they bested the Cubs 4-3 after a scoreless three inning start from Kyle Freeland and a walk-off two run homer by Braxton Fulford.
Today the Rockies will come back together as a single full squad to take on the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
On the mound for the Halos is twenty two year old righthander
Austin Gordon. Drafted in the fourth round of the 2024 draft, Gordon struggled to limit runs (5.44 ERA over 84.1 innings) in his first year at High-A with the Tri City Dust Devils.
His 10.14 k/9 and 2.88 bb/9 paint a bit of a rosier picture of his first season as a professional, and he has only allowed two runs in six innings so far this spring. Still, Gordon currently projects as a potential back of the rotation starter with solid command and will need to start displaying a true put-away pitch to surpass that.
The Rockies will be countering with a Gordon of their own. Tanner Gordon (no relation) has been working this spring to add a two seam fastball to his repertoire but you wouldn’t know he was workshopping something new and unfinished just by looking at his results. So far this spring the Rockies’ Gordon has pitched seven innings of one run ball over three appearances while striking out eight and only allowing one walk.
That strong performance means that Gordon is still very much in the mix for a spot in the opening day rotation so todays results, alongside seeing how his new pitch progresses, have potential implications for the start of the season.
First Pitch: 2:10 pm MDT
TV: None
Radio: 850 KOA
MLB Gameday: Live Box Score
Lineups:
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