Gibson and Herrmann

[gunnarthor]

I didn't watch the game today but Gibson's box score is great.  Besides the K's, he got 12 groundball outs.  Pretty impressive. 

 

Anyone watching notice if Herrmann was getting Gibson lower strike calls than Suzuki?  In a few of Gibson's starts it looked like he wasn't getting the low strike called and when he had to move the pitch higher, it was hit harder. 

 

Any thoughts on Herrmann as a catcher?  Defensive stats seem to like him but it's probably SSS at this point.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I've been wondering the same thing. The guy doesn't have enough MLB innings to really trust any of the metrics yet.

[stringer bell]

Certainly not an expert on catcher skills, but Herrmann passes my eye test.  He throws pretty well and seems to receive the ball well. 

[DaveW]

I really really really hope Herrman isn't the reason for Gibsons good game. He is basically Butera 2.0 at the plate and that will eventually bite this team in the ass.

[blairpaul715]

Just going by memory, it seems almost all the strikes were of the swinging variety after the first pitch fastball strike, he got ahead of the count almost all day, and was able to make the Sox players expand their zones, he was mostly in 1-2, 0-2 counts after the first 2 or 3 pitches..........framing wasnt needed, does anyone have the count on how many looking K's their were??? Gibson just was super on today, be nice to see him be consistent, between his new changeup and his slider, he look fabulous.

[JB_Iowa]

8 Ks, no BB

 

From Christina Kahrl at ESPN for the fun of it:

 

2. Kyle Gibson, Minnesota Twins: While Game Score doesn’t give much love to Wacha’s results, Gibson’s dominating eight-inning spin against the White Sox merited a 78 and ranks among the 50 best starts of the season so far. The towering sinkerballer has spun quality starts in five of his last six turns, a big part of the reason why the Twins are now 25-18. Are they simply a fluke thanks to timely late-game hitting and an early tendency to beat up on opposing lefties (they’re now 15-5 against southpaws)? Gibson’s development into a classic Brad Radke-style strike-throwing control fiend could be part of the reason why they’re more than that.

 

3. Brian Dozier, Twins: Two home runs? Yes, it was in the Cell and against a lefty starter, but still, the guy's making a heck of a case for being the "other" great second baseman in the AL.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/58564/sundays-power-rankings-6