Colorado Rockies: Injury updates on Austin Gomber and Jordan Sheffield

Jun 14, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Austin Gomber (26) pitches in the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 14, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Austin Gomber (26) pitches in the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /
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Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black provided the media, including Rox Pile, with an update on Rockies starting pitcher Austin Gomber and rookie reliever Jordan Sheffield before Wednesday’s game with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Colorado Rockies starter Austin Gomber is feeling good after a bullpen session

Black said that Gomber threw a bullpen session on Wednesday while in Arizona and he “felt fine.”

Now that the bullpen went well, the Colorado Rockies will create a simulated game for Gomber when the team takes on the San Diego Padres this weekend. Gomber will face some of his teammates and then, Black said “from there, we will make a determination (on) whether he’ll go out on a rehab assignment” which is “probably” what the Rockies will do.

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Gomber, 27, is in his first season as a Rockie and on the season, he has a 6-5 record with an ERA of 3.68 in 15 starts. He last appeared in a game on June 19, when he was pulled after just two innings due to forearm tightness.

Jordan Sheffield is further away from returning to the Colorado Rockies bullpen

Colorado Rockies rookie Jordan Sheffield (strained lat) is further away from returning to the Rockies bullpen as he is in the “strengthening” phase of his recovery. Black said that the lat is “still healing.”

He has yet to pick up a baseball but Black said that they are hopeful that he will be able to return to game action, in a minor league rehab assignment or in the majors, sometime in August.

When the team was in Milwaukee nearly two weeks ago, Sheffield expressed to Rox Pile that he was getting anxious to return to throwing game action ASAP but the Rockies medical staff had advised against it.

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Sheffield, 26, had been, arguably, the Rockies most consistent reliever in 2021 as, in 19 games, he pitched to a 3.26 ERA and a FIP of 4.41. That ERA is second (to Mychal Givens) among all Rockies pitchers with at least five innings pitched in 2021.