Minnesota Twins: Kyle Gibson continues to be a Quadruple-A Pitcher
By Carl Vagle
Minnesota Twins pitchers Kyle Gibson continues to struggle against major league hitters. His most recent outing against Baltimore shows change is needed.
The Minnesota Twins have had a welcome surprise from their pitching staff this season but Kyle Gibson has been another story. His start last night against the Orioles is what we have seen all year; thankfully the offense was able to make up for his struggles on the mound.
The definition of a Quadruple-A pitcher is someone who struggles in the MLB but dominates at Triple-A. It’s a player who hasn’t figured out the major league level of competition yet. The Twins have had several players that fit that description and Kyle Gibson is one of them.
His longest start this season has been 5.1 innings. In order for a pitcher to qualify for a win he must pitch at least five innings that game. In his seven starts this year he has only gone five innings in four of those starts.
415 pitchers have 500+ innings since 2000 and Kyle Gibson (38%) is the only one to throw fewer than 40% of his pitches in the strike zone.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) May 23, 2017
Kyle also struggles with control issues. He doesn’t struggle with them because he is a gunslinger who is still finding his release point, either. As noted in the tweet above he is alone in being this terrible at finding the strike zone, something a pitcher relies on to be successful.
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Gibson has shown that he can’t handle major league hitters. He is 1-4 this year with a sky-high 8.62 ERA (which rose even though he won Monday night). Kyle has seventeen walks to 21 strikeouts in 31.1 innings pitched while also giving up seven home runs.
During the 2013 season, Gibson had a 3.84 ERA and showed promise during a strong May stretch. His ERA in May was 1.36 with 39.2 innings pitched in six starts. He also had 24 strikeouts to nine walks and lowered his season ERA to 2.61.
He has dominated Triple-A hitters in his two starts.
This year has shown that Gibson’s 2013 season was a mirage to the pitcher he truly is. Due to his struggles on the mound Kyle was sent down earlier this season. He was dominant at the Triple-A level with the Rochester Red Wings.
In two starts for the Red Wings, Gibson had minimal run support and was 0-2. However in his 12.1 innings pitched he had a 2.92 ERA and eighteen strikeouts. This included a performance last week where he had ten strikeouts in a 1-0 loss.
Gibson’s win against the Orioles Monday night was based on the Twins offense breaking out. He allowed six runs in five innings and got his first win of the year thanks to an offense that set season highs in hits and runs.
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In conclusion, Kyle Gibson still has a chance to be a serviceable pitcher at the major league level. However, all signs point to him being a minor league pitcher on a team with five quality starters whom they would call up in case of injury. The worst part about Gibson’s struggles is it points out the Twins could have drafted Mike Trout instead, who went three picks later.