June 25, 20179 yr After seeing Saturday's game, I'm as convinced as ever that Kyle Gibson has the stuff to be a dominant ace in the major leagues. What's missing is Jack Morris's attitude. Sometimes he'll pitch inside, but sometimes he gets passive, too nice. Sometimes he'll throw his change up for strike one, but not enough. You see that beautiful downward plane, that's got to produce tons of ground outs, but he doesn't throw enough strikes to make batters swing. On the other hand, we all wish our pitchers got calls on strike three that were four to six inches outside the zone, as Kluber was getting. What an embarrassing day for that umpire. Does the league make them review their games? I hope so. He should spend the rest of the day with a red face. Meanwhile, Gibson does appear to be rallying from his early-season slump. Why he should need to re-learn the art of pitching at this point in his career, I have no idea. No pitcher can succeed on stuff alone. You have to play the game.
June 25, 20179 yr What the heck was up with the June 8 start in Seattle. He threw 35 curveballs. Why did he practically abandon the pitch after that? It was his best start of the season.
June 25, 20179 yr After seeing Saturday's game, I'm as convinced as ever that Kyle Gibson has the stuff to be a dominant ace in the major leagues. What's missing is Jack Morris's attitude. Sometimes he'll pitch inside, but sometimes he gets passive, too nice. Sometimes he'll throw his change up for strike one, but not enough. You see that beautiful downward plane, that's got to produce tons of ground outs, but he doesn't throw enough strikes to make batters swing. On the other hand, we all wish our pitchers got calls on strike three that were four to six inches outside the zone, as Kluber was getting. What an embarrassing day for that umpire. Does the league make them review their games? I hope so. He should spend the rest of the day with a red face. Meanwhile, Gibson does appear to be rallying from his early-season slump. Why he should need to re-learn the art of pitching at this point in his career, I have no idea. No pitcher can succeed on stuff alone. You have to play the game.Saturday's game in which he failed to make it out of the 5th inning? He has two quality starts all year. Phil Hughes has 3. In one of Gibson's "quality" starts he allowed 2 homeruns and 11 total baserunners. He only still has a job at the MLB level because the alternatives are worse. He is not good and other than the first half of 2015, never has been.
June 25, 20179 yr I'm not sure the words "Gibson" and "Ace" should be in the same sentence. We really need an ace instead of Gibson. Same sentence isn't a problem.
June 25, 20179 yr Calling him capable of being an ace is out there, but I think everyone that has watched him since his return would say he's looked solid. I was as down on Gibson as just about anyone before he got sent down, but I'm encouraged by what I've seen lately.
June 25, 20179 yr Is this supposed to be a good and/or promising outing because he gave up only 1 ER? He was over 90 pitches and unable to finish 5 innings. He walked 4. This team is so starved for quality pitching that fans sometimes leaps at things that aren't there. This guy does not have ace stuff. He doesn't have #2 or #3 stuff. We've seen enough of him to know this. Edited June 25, 20179 yr by jimmer
June 25, 20179 yr He's become a serviceable #5 starter since his return. So is Mejia. So is Santiago. Which is the problem.
June 25, 20179 yr He has been better, and looks like a "meh" 5th starter currently. Though, TBH I'm not sure a SP can have a "good" start when they don't even finish 5 innings. Luckily the bullpen is looking better these days.
June 25, 20179 yr I understand the exuberance of the original poster. The Twins beat Kluber and the Indians, and Gibson did better today than some of our other starters. Tomorrow the Twins might be back in first place. That possibility is intoxicating. It's easy to lose perspective when a team has a great game or a poor one, and there is at least a possibility that Gibson may get it together this year.
June 25, 20179 yr Author He has been better, and looks like a "meh" 5th starter currently. Though, TBH I'm not sure a SP can have a "good" start when they don't even finish 5 innings.Luckily the bullpen is looking better these days.Could be the trick for Gibson is to have Duffey, Rogers and Kintzler ready to go for each his awesome 5-inning starts. Edited June 25, 20179 yr by jimbo92107
June 25, 20179 yr Probably now more likely than not that he is brought back next year. That wasn't the case a couple weeks ago.
June 25, 20179 yr Since his return, Gibson has a 4.89 ERA and 4.92 FIP, good for a 110 ERA- and 112 FIP-. Not that different from his pre-2017 career marks (113 ERA-, 104 FIP-). Take out his first start back and the ERA improves to 4.01, but the FIP stays basically the same.
June 25, 20179 yr He's become a serviceable #5 starter since his return. So is Mejia. So is Santiago. Which is the problem. In the past I've felt the same, but we haven't even had AAAA starters lately. Nice to not have games decided by the 3rd inning.
June 25, 20179 yr He couldn't throw strikes and the ump was calling anything close a strike. He has stuff; he has no command. Doubtful he learns command at this stage of his career.
June 25, 20179 yr With all due respect to the OP, this is what happens after watching a "pitching" staff operate at this level for oh so many years. Desperation for a silver lining in any cloud sets in!
June 25, 20179 yr Gibson is still my choice for a non-tender at the end of the year, if not just a DFA. Twins need better starting pitching and his spot should be open for looks at the up and coming pitchers(most whom are now at AA). It would also be great to reallocate his $4 - $5 million to improve the rest of the pitching on this club.
June 25, 20179 yr Could be the trick for Gibson is to have Duffey, Rogers and Kintzler ready to go for each his awesome 5-inning starts. You left out Belisle. Some pitchers are accorded the privilege of having a "personal catcher". Gibby's was stationed in left field.
June 25, 20179 yr Kyle GibsonCareer record: 36W, 43LCareer ERA: 4.76Career WHIP: 1.45 [below average]WHIP this year: 1.83 [well, it's off the FanGraphs scale...] And it's not like he's a big innings eater anymore. I see no lose in losing Gibson. Actually, might be better for the Twins. Start a rotation of MiLB SP call-ups and see what happens.
June 25, 20179 yr I'm not sure the words "Gibson" and "Ace" should be in the same sentence.Disagree. Other teams have really laced the ball off of Gibson. They are both in that sentence.
June 25, 20179 yr Disagree. Other teams have really laced the ball off of Gibson. They are both in that sentence."Kyle Gibson was the Twin's 5th starter in the rotation to attend an Ace of Base concert and he really enjoyed it."
June 25, 20179 yr "Kyle Gibson was the Twin's 5th starter in the rotation to attend an Ace of Base concert and he really enjoyed it."Next visit from the catcher, when they are doing that cover-their-mouth-with-their-gloves thing, I'm going to imagine Gibby saying "Castro, I saw the sign"
June 25, 20179 yr If he develops a Jack Morris attitude, does that mean he'll stop letting women interview him? A few "decent" starts doesn't negate an entire career of being mostly below-average to awful.
June 25, 20179 yr As noted by others above, Gibson "is who we thought he was." On days when he can spot his FB, and the other team is hitting the ball at people, he can be effective. Most days, however, he can't spot his FB, he has weak secondary stuff, and there's way too much traffic on the bases.
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