Welcome to the 2025 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2025. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.
No. 44, Austin Gomber (-0.7 rWAR)
The 2025 season marked the finale of the Austin Gomber chapter
in Colorado, and it wasn’t a happy ending.
Gomber, who came to the Rockies as part of the Nolan Arenado deal prior to the 2021 season, was the last remaining player in the organization from the trade. Left shoulder soreness sidelined the lefty at the tail end of spring training, resulting in Gomber landing on the 60-day IL and not starting his MLB season until June 15.
His first start went remarkably well, as the 31-year-old threw five scoreless innings against the Braves, only allowing two hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
Then it went downhill in the following start when Gomber gave up nine runs on 12 hits, including three homers, in 4 2/3 innings against Arizona on June 20.
By the time Aug. 19 came around, Gomber was winless (0-7) in 12 starts with a 7.49 ERA in 57 2/3 innings with 34 strikeouts and a 1.72 WHIP. In what turned out to be his final Colorado start, Gomber lasted only three innings against the Dodgers because he gave up seven runs on nine hits, including two homers.
In a heartbreaking post-game interview, Gomber, who was transparent in 2023 about the pressure of being a key part of the Arenado trade and loss of his identity, admitted to feeling “a little bit lost” and seemed to have lost his confidence on the mound.
Whether it was the injury before the season, a shattered belief in his abilities, a loss of his command or the inability of the Rockies coaching staff to diagnose or help Gomber fix his issues — or all of the above — the end had come for his time in Colorado. By Aug. 22, the Rockies released him and called up McCade Brown to take his spot in the rotation.
The Chicago Cubs signed Gomber, a fourth-round pick by the Cardinals in the 2014 MLB Draft, to a minor league deal four days later, but he didn’t appear in another MLB game in 2025. He appeared in four games (starting three of them) for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, going 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA in 19 innings. Added as depth for a possible postseason run, Gomber never got called up and the Brewers eliminated the Cubs in the NLDS.
Gomber had appeared in 33 games in 2018 and 2020 with the Cardinals before coming to Colorado. He ended his five-year tenure with the Rockies with a 3.0 rWAR, a 28-44 record and a 5.31 ERA in 125 appearances (109 starts).
In 2021, Gomber went 9-9 in 23 starts with a 4.75 ERA. After struggling in 2022 and being relegated to the bullpen in 2022, Gomber showed improvement over the next two seasons. In 2024, Gomber tied Ryan Feltner with a team-high 30 starts (5-12, 4.75 ERA), while the season before, he went 9-9 with a 5.50 ERA, leading the team in wins.
At times in 2025 and throughout his tenure in Colorado, Gomber had flashes of greatness. In his five years, he played a big role in a pitching staff that saw injuries to Germán Márquez and Antonio Senzatela and just needed a stable arm in the rotation. Maybe it was the altitute. Whatever the cause, unfortunately, Gomber wasn’t able to find the consistency and adaptability to succeed long-term in Colorado.
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