Austin Gomber is arguably the best Cardinals minor league starting pitcher nobody is really talking about. A fourth round pick in 2014, the left-handed throwing Gomber has posted a 2.85 ERA over 452.0 MiLB innings. He was named the organization's co-Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2015, along with top prospect Alex Reyes.
Added to the 40-man roster this offseason, now is (past) the time to get to know the 24-year-old. Standing 6'5", the southpaw possesses a three-pitch repertoire and is comfortable locating all three pitches in any count. While Gomber works off his fastball, particularly up in the zone, the changeup and curveball serve as viable secondary offerings (there will be more on his curveball later in this post).
Fastball
A typical fourseam grip. This is the pitch Gomber establishes early and often. Taking advantage of his height, his ability to consistently locate it up in the zone plays well against the so-called league-wide "fly ball revolution."
Changeup
Coming into professional baseball, Gomber was primarily a fastball-changeup pitcher, and it makes sense given his ability to command the zone with each. He uses a typical circle-change grip with his base positioning shifted ever so slightly.
Curveball
The ever popular spiked curveball grip. As you will see below, this is a pitch Gomber didn't develop until after his first full season in the minors.