With Thomas Harding on vacation this week, the lead item is written by Ryan Herrera, who covered the club in Chicago this week. MLB.com's Manny Randhawa contributed to the other sections. As Tanner Gordon went to warm up before the Rockies’ series finale at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, he heard a big roar from the crowd. That could’ve seemed a bit odd, since he was going to be pitching in a road stadium filled with opposing fans. But considering this was in Chicago, roughly 135 miles from his hometown of Champaign, Ill., it wasn’t a surprise. Packed mostly in Section 228 at Wrigley was a massive group of supporters from home, including his parents, Bob and Jody, his longtime coach, Joe Yager, and a host of other family and friends. There were plenty of “GORDON 29” Rockies jerseys spread throughout. Between the folks who rode two charter buses and others who traveled on their own, his dad estimated 120-plus supporters went to watch him pitch. “It was impossible to miss them,” Gordon said. Once Gordon was officially slated to start Wednesday, his family got to work. |
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Saturday morning, they were able to secure 86 tickets, Bob Gordon said. By 2 p.m., they’d found enough people who wanted a ticket that they ran out of their initial order. “So we ordered 20 more, filled them. Seven more, filled those,” Bob Gordon said. “Then we decided to stop, because I'd ordered two buses that held 56 people each, so we were getting close. … I didn't know it was going to grow to this magnitude, but we're so glad it did.” This isn’t the first time a big group showed up to back Gordon. Last July, when he made his Major League debut, around 30 people flew out to Denver to watch him start at Coors Field. But Wednesday was a showing of support on an even grander scale. That it was as close to home as Gordon has been in professional baseball probably helped spark interest in the trip, but having that many people wanting to go cheer him on in person says something about Gordon, too. “He's just a great kid,” said Yager, who started coaching Gordon when he was 13 and surprised him on the field during batting practice. “He just always said hello to everybody. He's never been too big. Just a great young man.” “I told them on the bus on the way up here that my wife and I appreciate them so much,” Bob Gordon said. “I mean, just the way it went and how fast those tickets sold and stuff, we have a ton of support. … To have something like this happen and have them all come out and support you, it's just phenomenal.” |
Pro ball can get a bit lonely sometimes, given the travel and time away from family. Gordon shuttled between Colorado and Triple-A Albuquerque throughout the second half of 2024, and his dad still doesn’t quite know how he did it. But right now, he’s getting his turn to pitch in the big leagues, a reward for the work he’s put in for so many years. “This was all part of the plan,” Yager said. “This is exactly what we worked for, and this is what we expected to do.” Though Gordon couldn’t make it consecutive outings with a ‘W’ on Wednesday, he pitched well enough (two runs over 4 2/3 innings) to keep the Rockies in the game. It wasn’t necessarily special in the same way as his start last Friday against the Yankees -- for which his family hosted a watch party in the garage -- when he earned his first big league win. Still, it was certainly special that he got to visit and pitch at Wrigley Field for the first time, close enough to have a large hometown cheering section make the trip. That made up just a fraction of the 33,748 in attendance, but Gordon could feel the love and support anyway. “[The fans at Wrigley are] in the game from inning one to nine,” he said. “Having my hundreds of family members there, they added a little extra cheer, too. |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Outfielder Zac Veen, the Rockies’ No. 7 prospect who made his Major League debut on April 8, is working in the lab -- the Rockies’ performance lab at their Spring Training facility in Scottsdale, Ariz., that is. Chris Forbes, the Rockies' senior director of player development, said that Veen’s approach at the plate isn’t being overhauled, but rather that it’s about minor tweaks for improvement. He added that with Veen dealing with a minor ankle injury that doesn't require an IL stint, it's an opportunity to evaluate him in the performance center. Veen hit .118 with a double and a home run in 12 games with the Rockies before being optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque, where he has a slash line of .271/.336/.439 in 120 plate appearances. |
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RITTER RAKING, KARROS RETURNS |
Ryan Ritter, the Rockies’ No. 12 prospect, is on a run to remember. The 24-year-old shortstop launched three home runs for Albuquerque last Sunday, and then smashed two more on Tuesday. He then sent another one out of the park on Thursday. Overall, Ritter has a 1.028 OPS with 15 homers in 48 games for the Isotopes this season. Talk about the high-scoring environment of the Pacific Coast League all you want -- those numbers are tremendous anywhere. “We’ve seen him ride it really hot the last few weeks,” Forbes said. “And we’ve also seen him ride it really cold. I think the main thing is we’d like to see a little bit of consistency here. I don’t care what league he’s playing in -- [his performance this past week] has been spectacular.” Meanwhile, Kyle Karros, the Rockies’ No. 19 prospect, is set to return to Double-A Hartford next week after being sidelined with a knee injury. In 22 games with the Yard Goats this season, he’s hitting .333/.447/.513. |
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