Colorado Rockies notebook: Hampson returns, Gomber heads to bullpen

As the Colorado Rockies prepared to finish up their three-game series with the San Diego Padres at Coors Field on Sunday, the team made moves impacting both the rotation and position players.

Here are the latest roster moves made by the Colorado Rockies

On the pitching side, Austin Gomber has been shuffled from the Colorado Rockies rotation into the bullpen … at least temporarily. Ryan Feltner will make the start for the Rockies on Tuesday when they open a series in Miami against the Marlins.

Gomber has a 8.66 ERA over his last seven starts and a 6.43 ERA in 63.0 innings covering 12 starts this season. In his second year as a part of the Rockies rotation, opponents are hitting .296 against him last season versus the .232 mark he posted last year. Gomber last pitched out of the bullpen during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign when he was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

In other news, Garrett Hampson was activated off the COVID IL in time for Sunday’s game, when he drew the start at shortstop and batted ninth. Slashing .234/.289/.380 this season, Hampson has picked up the pace at the plate over the last 15 games, slashing .282/.333/.436 with a home run and five RBI during that stretch.

Sean Bouchard was selected to make his first appearance on the active Rockies roster when Hampson was placed on the COVID IL on June 16. Bouchard was scheduled to make his MLB debut on Sunday, starting in left field and batting eighth.

While Bouchard stayed up with the team, Hampson’s activation meant that the Rockies sent Alan Trejo back to Triple-A. Trejo went 0-for-4 with a strikeout when he started at third base on Friday night.

To make room on the roster for Hampson’s return, Tyler Kinley was moved to the 60-day injured list after his injury outlook was revealed earlier in the week.

The Rockies will have to make additional roster moves on Monday when MLB’s mandate of each team carrying no more than 13 pitchers on its active roster takes effect. Currently, Colorado has 14 pitchers and 12 position players comprising its 26-man roster.