Gabriel Hughes has 'more I want to accomplish' after brief return to Spokane Indians rotation

Gabriel Hughes is certainly no stranger to Spokane. He starred at Gonzaga before being drafted by the Colorado Rockies, then spent the first half of the 2023 season with the Spokane Indians.

He was back with the club, albeit temporarily, in a comeback from the latest injury to delay his ascension to the major leagues.

Hughes made two appearances with the club over the past 10 days, and having proven his health he will resume his place in the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes rotation when they start a six-game series in Tacoma this week.

Hughes looked strong Saturday as he dominated the Hillsboro Hops for three innings. He even showed off a new pitch that he learned in big league camp this spring.

While his ultimate goal is pitching at Coors Field with the big league club, he enjoyed his temporary detour back through his old stomping grounds.

"It's really special being able to come back to somewhere where I spent so long in college, and then another couple months in High-A," Hughes said after batting practice last Thursday. "It's cool to see so many 'Go Zags' billboards and everything around the area."

"I had Pizza Pipeline for the first time in a couple years, I had Atilano's for the first time in a couple years," he continued. "It's just really cool being somewhere where I'm familiar, where I'm comfortable, and especially now that the field's renovated, I mean, it's a really cool experience, and a really cool stop for everyone who gets to come through here."

He doubled down on how impressed he was with the recent renovations to Avista Stadium.

"I've been telling anyone who would listen that I think every aspect of it is better, especially from the player-facing standpoint," Hughes said. "I think every aspect is better. The locker room is awesome, the weight room, the hitting facility, just everything. And the field itself looks unbelievable."

Last week in Pasco against Tri-City, Hughes struck out four and walked two in three hitless innings. On Saturday, he allowed just two soft singles and a walk with six strikeouts, throwing 39 of his 56 pitches for strikes.

"Anytime you can go out and throw up zeros on the scoreboard, it's really good," he said. "Anytime you get a handful of strikeouts, it's really good. I just overall feel really good about it."

He also felt good hearing the P.A. announcer say "... from Gonzaga University ..." during pregame introductions.

"It (was) a very big crowd ... So, to hear everyone cheer after 'Gonzaga' is really cool. It's special."

Hughes - who was the Rockies' first-round pick (No. 10 overall) in the 2022 draft - made eight starts for the Indians in 2023, his first full season in pro ball, going 4-3 with a 5.50 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 372/3 innings before a midseason promotion to Double-A Hartford.

But he only made six starts for the Yard Goats before hurting his elbow and he missed the rest of '23 and almost all of '24 after Tommy John surgery. Hughes made 24 starts in 2025 at three affiliates in his return, then six appearances and four starts for Albuquerque this season as he was on the brink of a big league call-up. But he came out of a game on April 29 after feeling discomfort in his side and was placed on the minor -league injured list the next day.

"It was definitely frustrating, because there was one pitch where it just kind of locked up on me, and I pitched another couple innings, kind of hoping that it would get better, and just didn't," he said. "I'm thankful that the medical staff in Triple-A, the medical staff back in Arizona, the trainer (in Spokane) - everyone's been doing their best to make sure I get back healthy and ready to go."

The latest setback wasn't anywhere as severe as the 21-month layoff for elbow ligament reconstruction surgery.

"Injuries are always frustrating, and there's a lot of it that's just really bad luck," Hughes said. "So the one thing you can do is put yourself in a position where it's not due to anything that you did. I try to make sure that I'm doing everything to care for my body - to recover, to sleep, to fuel it properly. ... Obviously it sucks, but you just try to make sure that you're doing everything you can to minimize the possibility that's going to happen to you."

On Saturday, Hughes showed off a 93-95 mph fastball, slider and change-up, as well as a sweeper he used to devastating effect on occasion - a pitch he picked up in the spring.

"I learned it from (Rockies starting pitcher) Michael Lorenzen, and just started throwing it, and I've had really good results with it," Hughes said. "So it's kind of stuck. ... But I feel really good, able to throw everything. It's just nice to be able to be back on a field, to pull on a uniform."

He really enjoyed spring training with the Rockies and hopes to make it more of a full-time appointment in the near future.

"I went into this big league camp with basically a new pitching department, a ton of new coaches, ton of new ideas," he said. "It was an awesome experience having so many older veteran players around that you could ask questions to - the same way I'm trying to be around for the guys on the Spokane Indians.

"It's nice knowing that I'm on the cusp, but obviously I'm not where I want to end up. There is still more that I want to accomplish in this game."

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This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 7:03 PM.