Tanner Gordon talks Colorado Rockies-Atlanta Braves trade, MLB debut, more
After making his MLB debut, Tanner Gordon sat down to discuss a life-changing trade, his pitch mix, and much more.
On the latest episode of the Clubhouse Chatter podcast, part of the Just Baseball podcast network, I sit down with Colorado Rockies pitcher Tanner Gordon. The 26-year-old right-hander made his MLB debut on Sunday against the Kansas City Royals, and is scheduled for his second big league start on Friday in New York against the Mets.
Gordon was one of two current Rockies (along with reliever Victor Vodnik) who was brought over to Denver in a 2023 trade deadline deal with Atlanta that landed the Braves reliever Pierce Johnson (who signed a two-year deal with the Braves in the offseason and has lived up to the offseason hype with a 3.23 ERA through his first 30.2 innings of 2024).
The deal has, to this point, been a win for both teams as Johnson is a key member of the Braves bullpen and Vodnik has emerged as a solid late-inning option in Colorado, plus now Gordon is showing what he can do at the MLB level as well.
Gordon showed off those skills against the Royals by striking out the first two batters he faced, including All-Star Bobby Witt Jr., as plenty of family and friends looked on from the stands.
One of Gordon’s main pitches against the Royals was his changeup, which was effective early but also was the pitch that Kansas City hit out of the park twice.
“Having my changeup in my back pocket and being able to throw it for a strike or a swing and miss whenever I needed to has been really huge,” Gordon said. “In college, that was my main pitch. But, as my pro career went on, I think I’ve been able to use it a lot more. And I think it’s become better and better as the years went on.
“I find in some outings that I don’t throw that well, I see that I’m not using my changeup. When I use my changeup in there and I’m able to get hitters off the fastball, I think it definitely helps.”
With Gordon getting the start on Friday against the Mets, I asked him what he took from his first MLB start (in which he allowed eight hits and five runs in 6.1 innings) that he would use at Citi Field.
“What I’m to take from that first start is how I attacked,” Gordon offered. “I threw a ton of strikes (throwing 79.5 percent of his 78 pitches for strikes, the highest percentage for any Rockies pitcher this season). Maybe some of the strikes were a little bit too quality strikes in certain counts to where guys were able to get hits. But the main goal is I’m going to attack as much as I can and throw quality strikes in good counts.”
Gordon also told me about his approach heading into starts and how he wanted to ensure he was able to change his attack based on the flow of the game.
“I’ve never faced the Mets, obviously, so I will talk to the catchers, talk to other starters that have played against the Mets a bunch, and get feedback from them and take notes,” Gordon explained.
“I try not to cram too much before an outing. Maybe the night before or a few days before, I’ll start reading up on the scouting reports and whatnot, but I try not to study as much. I don’t want to it feel like it’s a test, like a pop quiz or something, going into the game. I want to have a free mind and get the feel of the game.”
In our interview, we talk more about his pitch mix, the emotions behind his MLB debut and what comes next, as well as what he learned during and after his trade from the Braves to the Rockies. You can hear our entire interview below.
Make sure you’re subscribed to the Clubhouse Chatter podcast (and all Just Baseball podcasts) wherever you get your baseball podcasts.
Written by
A member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), Kevin Henry has been covering MLB and MiLB for nearly two decades. Those assignments have included…