The St. Louis Cardinals, through their revolving door of prospects, called up a young arm who carries with him plenty of promise and he lived up to those promises.
On Saturday, Austin Gomber made his MLB debut with the St. Louis Cardinals. He appeared from the bullpen which is somewhat of a change for Gomber since he has been a starter in the minor leagues. This, however, did not seem to affect him at all.
He appeared in three innings on Saturday. Three whole innings. And he lived up to all of his promise. It took him only 32 pitches to record the requisite nine outs to complete three full innings.
Of these 32 pitches, 20 were thrown for strikes. This high strike percentage allowed Gomber to keep the Pirates from recording a hit during his three innings. Additionally, Gomber struck out two batters and walked only one.
If he can continue to repeat this performance, then teams should be on the lookout for days when Austin runs in from the outfield.
Looking ahead, perhaps Gomber has the makings of a starter for the St. Louis Cardinals. Wouldn’t it be nice to have this arm supporting the starting core in case of injuries? Add Luke Weaver to the mix and you have a killer 1-2 of backup starters (this assumes that Weaver is the odd man out when Carlos Martinez and Alex Reyes returns from the DL).
Looking at Gomber’s numbers as a starter in the minors, one can see just how deadly he can be:
Year | Age | AgeDif | Tm | Lg | Lev | Aff | W | L | W-L% | ERA | RAvg | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | BK | WP | BF | WHIP | H9 | HR9 | BB9 | SO9 | SO/W |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | 20 | -1.4 | State College | NYPL | A- | STL | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2.30 | 3.26 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47.0 | 55 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 36 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 207 | 1.553 | 10.5 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 6.9 | 2.00 |
2015 | 21 | -0.9 | Peoria | MIDW | A | STL | 15 | 3 | .833 | 2.67 | 3.00 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 135.0 | 97 | 45 | 40 | 10 | 34 | 0 | 140 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 538 | 0.970 | 6.5 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 9.3 | 4.12 |
2016 | 22 | 2 Teams | 2 Lgs | A+-AA | STL | 7 | 8 | .467 | 2.69 | 2.98 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 127.0 | 102 | 42 | 38 | 5 | 33 | 0 | 116 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 76 | 1.063 | 7.2 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 8.2 | 3.52 | |
2016 | 22 | -2.4 | Springfield | TL | AA | STL | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.40 | 1.86 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.1 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 76 | 1.034 | 5.1 | 0.0 | 4.2 | 7.0 | 1.67 |
2016 | 22 | -1.1 | Palm Beach | FLOR | A+ | STL | 6 | 8 | .429 | 2.93 | 3.18 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 107.2 | 91 | 38 | 35 | 5 | 24 | 0 | 101 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 434 | 1.068 | 7.6 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 8.4 | 4.21 |
2016 | 22 | -1.0 | Glendale | AZFL | Fal | 5 | 1 | .833 | 2.14 | 2.41 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.2 | 26 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 140 | 1.129 | 7.0 | 0.3 | 3.2 | 8.8 | 2.75 | |
2017 | 23 | -1.1 | Springfield | TL | AA | STL | 10 | 7 | .588 | 3.34 | 4.03 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 143.0 | 116 | 64 | 53 | 17 | 51 | 0 | 140 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 590 | 1.168 | 7.3 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 8.8 | 2.75 |
2018 | 24 | -2.7 | Memphis | PCL | AAA | STL | 4 | 3 | .571 | 3.60 | 3.60 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55.0 | 55 | 22 | 22 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 63 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 233 | 1.309 | 9.0 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 10.3 | 3.71 |
Minors (5 seasons) | Minors | 38 | 23 | .623 | 2.93 | 3.37 | 89 | 89 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 507.0 | 425 | 190 | 165 | 42 | 153 | 0 | 495 | 15 | 0 | 25 | 2078 | 1.140 | 7.5 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 8.8 | 3.24 | |||||
All Levels (5 Seasons) | 43 | 24 | .642 | 2.88 | 3.31 | 96 | 96 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 540.2 | 451 | 199 | 173 | 43 | 165 | 0 | 528 | 16 | 0 | 26 | 2218 | 1.139 | 7.5 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 8.8 | 3.20 | ||||||
AA (2 seasons) | Minors | 11 | 7 | .611 | 3.10 | 3.77 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162.1 | 127 | 68 | 56 | 17 | 60 | 0 | 155 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 666 | 1.152 | 7.0 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 8.6 | 2.58 |
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Aren’t those the types of numbers you would like to see in the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen or in the starting core? I know I would. I would love to see a career 2.88 ERA as part of the St. Louis Cardinals…
Time will tell if Gomber appears in today’s game or in the coming days, but as The Cat reported during today’s broadcast, Austin enjoyed coming out of the St. Louis Cardinals pen since he wasn’t expected to throw a full game’s worth of pitches.
This says to me that he appreciated the opportunity to be efficient without worry of needing to spoil a few pitches. And it clearly worked.
Next: Refuse the shift? Mistake for the Cards.
I’m ready for his next appearance and I predict that this is a name St. Louis Cardinals’ fans should watch closely.