WASHINGTON -- The Rockies continued their plan to collect pitching depth when they traded veteran righty reliever Pierce Johnson to the Braves on Monday for right-handed pitching prospects Victor Vodnik and Tanner Gordon.

Vodnik, a reliever, was ranked 10th on the Braves¡¯ Top 30 prospects list, per MLB Pipeline, and is now No. 20 in the Rockies¡¯ system. Gordon, a starter, was ranked 26th for Atlanta and is not in Colorado¡¯s Top 30. It is the club¡¯s second trade this season of a veteran for a pitcher who can be developed. On June 25, the Rockies sent corner infielder Mike Moustakas to the Angels for righty Connor Van Scoyoc, who was strong in High-A (combined 5-5, 2.92 ERA with 78 strikeouts to 30 walks in 86 1/3 innings) and has been promoted to Double-A Hartford.

The 32-year-old Johnson, a Denver native and Arvada (Colo.) Faith Christian Academy star before pitching at Missouri State, spent the early part of the season as the Rockies¡¯ closer and went 1-5 with a 6.00 ERA with 13 saves (tied for 10th in the National League) in 43 appearances. Johnson, who signed a one-year, $5 million contract with his hometown team in December, anchored the bullpen during the first month-plus before Daniel Bard came off the injured list.

¡°First and foremost, Pierce as a person is a good teammate who helped everybody in the bullpen and showed up with a smile on his face no matter how he performed,¡± Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt said. ¡°He did a good job for us, and the bullpen was the strongest. He has a chance with a team that believes it is putting together a championship team.¡±

Both acquisitions were playing at Double-A Mississippi in the Braves¡¯ system and will be assigned to the Rockies¡¯ Double-A Hartford affiliate.

Vodnik, 23, a 14th-round MLB Draft pick in 2018 out of Rialto (Calif.) High School, is 3-1 with a 3.10 ERA, four saves and 56 strikeouts against 25 walks in 40 2/3 innings. Gordon, 25, a sixth-rounder out of Indiana University in 2019, struggled at Triple-A (1-4 record, 8.28 ERA in six games, including five starts). At Double-A, he is 4-5 with a 4.61 ERA and 55 strikeouts to 15 walks in 56 2/3 innings.

¡°We got two of their Top 30 prospects,¡± Schmidt said. ¡°It¡¯s similar to when we traded Moustakas. We¡¯ve added three in those two deals, and with what we did in the Draft, we just keep adding depth with the goal of getting quality.

¡°Vodnik has a good arm, and we¡¯ve seen him up to 99 and 100 mph, with a good changeup. We scouted him out of high school. Gordon has been pitching better in Double-A, and we see potential there.¡±

Rockies manager Bud Black indicated that Johnson may not be gone from ¡°his favorite team¡± forever.

¡°He got some saves for us, helped a lot of younger pitchers and helped us win games in his short time here,¡± Black said. ¡°My hope is that when November rolls around, there's a conversation between the Rockies and Pierce -- which he mentioned today as we spoke. It looks to me like a trade that will help the Braves and help our future.¡±

Right-hander Karl Kauffmann will be added to the Rockies' 26-man roster to replace Johnson, and he could be a factor Monday night against the Nationals, when long reliever Jake Bird will start a bullpen game.

The Rockies have the possibility of building their system out more by dealing any of several veterans in the last year of their contracts: relievers Brad Hand and Brent Suter, outfielders Randal Grichuk and Jurickson Profar and first baseman C.J. Cron. There may be interest in All-Star catcher Elias D¨ªaz, but he is in the middle year of a payroll-friendly three-year, $14.5 million contract, so Colorado would need a sweet deal to part with him.

The Rockies began adding to their pitching ranks through trades last offseason, when they acquired Triple-A righty Jeff Criswell from the Athletics for righty reliever Chad Smith, Double-A righty Nick Garcia from the Pirates for utility man Connor Joe and righty Connor Seabold from the Red Sox for a player to be named or cash considerations.