Watch Him Grow!

In a lost season, baseball fans take what they can get. Most get by on hope, and for the Twins, looking toward the future has begun as early as ever. Even the most casual fans now anticipate the arrival of Sano and Buxton, but in a down year, it's easy to forget that many prospects are already here. Before elbow surgery, Kyle Gibson's name often topped lists of reasons to keep the faith. Though he's stumbled out of the gate, he has the tools to work at the top of the rotation. Here's five areas where Gibson can improve as he gains confidence in his pitches and trust in his catchers and coaches.

Control With Runners on Base

RISP

Gibson (34) .367/.412/.845 1.50

Twins .291/.356/.798 1.57

AL .259/.336/.736 1.89

Traditional theory assumes most batters swing more freely with men on, looking for RBIs. But instead of consistenly working the corners, Gibson leaves too many pitches over the middle of the plate. Some may be mistakes, but others are untimely efforts to stay ahead of the batter. He spends little to no time "watching" runners back to the bag, working quickly after receiving the sign. While it's wise to trust base-stealing theats to veteran defenders, Gibson often appears too eager to make up for the mistakes that put men on. Continuing at a natural pace and keepingthe ball down and away from the batter - especially with his effective slider - will not only keep batters off-balance, but should induce ground balls and lead to more missed batts.