Article: MIN 7, DET 3: Gibson, Offense Keep Rolling

[Tom Froemming]

How about that Kyle Gibson? He delivered another quality start as the Twins beat the Tigers, and has people starting to wonder if he’s turned the corner. Of course, having some premium run support hasn’t hurt his cause, either. The bats delivered another nice cushion for Gibby tonight, scoring six runs while he was in the game.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs)

Download attachment: Snapshot922.png

Gibson held the Tigers to three runs over 7.0 innings. He gave up five hits, two of which were homers, and walked a pair of batters while striking out six. He also induced three double-play balls. He’s been a bit of a chameleon of late, mixing up his pitch selection to lean more on his four-seam fastball and slider as opposed to the two-seamer. Here’s a breakdown of his pitch mix from his previous start (9/17):

Download attachment: Gibby917.png

And that has been fairly consistent with how he’s pitched over the past two months. Well, here’s what he did tonight:

Download attachment: GibbyTonight.png

Back to tons of two-seamers (or sinkers, depending on who you ask). He doesn’t deploy the curveball or changeup as frequently, but hitters still have five pitches they need to prepare for when they dig in against Gibson. He's also working up in the zone more frequently.

 

Whether the goal is being a little less predictable, he's attacking his opponent's weaknesses or it’s simply that he’s leaning on a pitch he has the feel for that night, this new Gibson is rolling. In the 10 games he has started since the beginning of August, Gibson has a 3.32 ERA and the Twins are 8-2.

 

And, of course, the Twins have had the best offense in the American League since the All-Star break. They’ve been giving Gibby plenty of support, and Friday was no exception. The lineup provided six runs while Gibson was on the bump.

 

Byron Buxton led the way with three hits, two of which were doubles. He drove in two runs and also scored twice. Max Kepler had two hits, including his 19th home run of the season off lefty Daniel Norris. Brian Dozier hit his 32nd homer and stole his 16th base of the year.

 

Postgame With Gibson

AL Wild Card Standings

WC1: Yankees 85-68 (+5.5)

WC2: Twins 80-74

Angels 76-77 (-3.5)

Rangers 76-77 (-3.5)

 

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Download attachment: Bullpen922.png

Looking Ahead

Sat: Twins (Ervin Santana) at Tigers (Matthew Boyd), 5:10 pm CT

Sun: Twins (Jose Berrios) at Tigers (Buck Farmer), 11:10 am CT

Mon: Off

 

Looking Back

MIN 12, DET 1: Once Again, The Twins Bounce Back

NYY 11, MIN 3: Twins Crumble At Yankee Stadium (Again)

NYY 5, MIN 2: Tough Night For Berrios, Twins

 

Click here to view the article

[Otwins]

Angels and Rangers lose. Great night

[Dantes929]

 

Angels and Rangers lose. Great night

KC also.    

[h2oface]

Weakest pitchers lining up for Cleveland. Not that Berrios and Santana have been so consistent lately...... but still. And do we really have to see Colon again?! Really?

[Twodogs]

You can make a decent case that Gibson has been better than both Santana and Berrios since the All star break. That's a fairly decent stretch 12 to 13 starts. Gibson is 7 - 3 and like a 3.58 ERA Santana is 5 - 2 with a 3.87 ERA. Berrios has not been very good at all since the All Star break. Actually he has had some good games just not consistent.

[h2oface]

Sure would have been nice to have Verlander pitching for the Twins.......

[mickeymental]

verlander IS pitching for the twins. four wins this month: angels twice, mariners twice.

[Blake]

I just realized I've yet to look at the Strib's coverage of the Twins this year.

 

With TD, I've realized there's no reason to.

 

Off topic, take a look at the hidden ball trick pulled off by Goins of the Jays. It's a thing of beauty.

 

Good job, Mr. Froemming and TD in general!

[IaFan1]

If someone had told me July 1st that Kyle Gibson would have 12 Wins at this point in the season, I would of thought that person crazy. But he has really turned it around. And he is such a good person that it is great to see him having some success and contributing to this unlikely remarkable season. Just think what a full season of Kyle Gibson pitching like this would look like.

[Riverbrian]

Gibby has gone from "Why would you offer him Arb" to "Of course we will offer him Arb". 

 

 

And we really needed that. 

[ThejacKmp]

 

Weakest pitchers lining up for Cleveland. Not that Berrios and Santana have been so consistent lately...... but still. And do we really have to see Colon again?! Really?

 

Either Mejia or Colon will be skipped to line Santana up for the Wild Card Game. So game three in that series will be Santana. Molly has talked about doing that. And we're getting CLE pitchers #3 through #5 so that's decent. No Kluber, no Corrasco.

 

100% agreed on Colon. I'd like to see him skipped in CLE and he can make his last start against the Tiggers that last weekend when this thing will hopefully be sewn up. Mejia is flawed but at least interesting, Colon is just garbage.

[ThejacKmp]

 

Just think what a full season of Kyle Gibson pitching like this would look like.

 

I'm with you on liking watching Kyle Gibson pitch well but I think the issue is that he doesn't do this for a whole season. That's why he's not starting the Wild Card game. He'd certainly start an ALDS game and deservedly so.

[ScooterDance]

Pretty much sealed at least a game 163 last night. I really don't see a 8-1 or 9-0 stretch. Even 7-2 is unlikely - but if TEX or ANA rattle off a 7-2 stretch we just have to go 3-5 for a 163.

 

I'm pretty sure a random selection of TDers could win 3 of the 5 remaining games against the Tigers (they are 4-18 this month).

[Gold15]

I mentioned this before, I read an article in the The Athletic about Gibsons turnaround this season. It all started when he started pitching from the 3rd base side of the pitching rubber.

 

Also, If everyone recalls, Gibson was sent down when the Twins acquired Garcia from the Braves and brought back up when Garcia was traded to the Yanks. The way Gibson is pitching now, I think I'd rather have Gibson than Garcia.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Also, If everyone recalls, Gibson was sent down when the Twins acquired Garcia from the Braves and brought back up when Garcia was traded to the Yanks. The way Gibson is pitching now, I think I'd rather have Gibson than Garcia.

Mejia was injured shortly thereafter, so there could have been room for both. (And there was a case for sending him out instead of Gibson too, he wasn't pitching very deep.)

[Tom Froemming]

 

I mentioned this before, I read an article in the The Athletic about Gibsons turnaround this season. It all started when he started pitching from the 3rd base side of the pitching rubber. Also, If everyone recalls, Gibson was sent down when the Twins acquired Garcia from the Braves and brought back up when Garcia was traded to the Yanks. The way Gibson is pitching now, I think I'd rather have Gibson than Garcia.

There's been a ton of great coverage and analysis on Gibson's turnaround. Here are a few links for anybody looking for some extra weekend reading:

 

-As you mentioned, Brandon Warne wrote about him at The Athletic. There is a paywall, but you can get a free trial to read that piece.

 

-Matthew Trueblood wrote about Gibby for Baseball Prospectus. He also pointed out Gibby is throwing from a different arm slot, among other things. That article is free (thanks Aaron).

 

-Of course, Twins Daily has covered this too. Nick Nelson wrote about Gibson's turnaround at the end of August, before it was cool

 

-Ted Schwerzler also wrote about Gibson over at Off The Baggy, pointing out his increase in off-speed offerings. 

 

-Derek Wetmore covered Gibby's turnaround for 1500 ESPN, honing in on his four-seam fastball.

 

-Eddy Almaguer at Fake Teams also target Gibson as a fantasy sleeper earlier this month and shared some good, nerdy stuff.

 

I'm sure other blogs the STrib, Pioneer Press and the team's official site have had some good stuff too. Feel free to share links I may have missed. 

[Jerr]

 

Pretty much sealed at least a game 163 last night. I really don't see a 8-1 or 9-0 stretch. Even 7-2 is unlikely - but if TEX or ANA rattle off a 7-2 stretch we just have to go 3-5 for a 163.

I'm pretty sure a random selection of TDers could win 3 of the 5 remaining games against the Tigers (they are 4-18 this month).

Ohhh yeah!!!!! put some us in for a game and rest all the MLBers, they could use a day off      I call third base coach, so I can send on the fast TDers that round second   

[Dantes929]

 

Ohhh yeah!!!!! put some us in for a game and rest all the MLBers, they could use a day off      I call third base coach, so I can send on the fast TDers that round second   

Used to be I was fast enough that when the 2nd baseman said something nasty as I was rounding 2nd base I would slap the 3rd baseman in the catcher's mouth.   Nowadays I run on the treadmill for an hour and look down to realize its only been 5 minutes.

[Dantes929]

 

I mentioned this before, I read an article in the The Athletic about Gibsons turnaround this season. It all started when he started pitching from the 3rd base side of the pitching rubber. Also, If everyone recalls, Gibson was sent down when the Twins acquired Garcia from the Braves and brought back up when Garcia was traded to the Yanks. The way Gibson is pitching now, I think I'd rather have Gibson than Garcia.

I made that point the other day that if Garcia had not been traded maybe Gibson is still in the minors.   Probably not completely true but maybe he comes up and faces the Dodgers or Indians and never gets into a groove.    What I have noticed in his bad streaks is that he looks like the bad Nick Blackburn where everything looks like the same speed.   He's got really good breaking balls so what I see in his good games are a lot of those.   I do think the 4 seamer helps though.

[Dantes929]

 

Either Mejia or Colon will be skipped to line Santana up for the Wild Card Game. So game three in that series will be Santana. Molly has talked about doing that. And we're getting CLE pitchers #3 through #5 so that's decent. No Kluber, no Corrasco.

 

100% agreed on Colon. I'd like to see him skipped in CLE and he can make his last start against the Tiggers that last weekend when this thing will hopefully be sewn up. Mejia is flawed but at least interesting, Colon is just garbage.

I would not put Colon on the playoff roster (KOW, KOW, KOW).   It would be like Hernandez in 08.   Nice job.  Thank you for your efforts.  They were very valuable.   Its time to go.

[rdehring]

CAN YOU SMELL IT?

 

For the Twins not to make the playoffs, they will have to go 100% into the tank. With the young kids experienced winners from the minors AND 5 remaining against Detroit, that isn't likely.

 

And after dropping three to the Yankees this week, the Twins have them right where they want them....over confident!

[drjim]

I would not put Colon on the playoff roster (KOW, KOW, KOW). It would be like Hernandez in 08. Nice job. Thank you for your efforts. They were very valuable. Its time to go.

I would start Colon over Mejia in a LDS game 4, but have an extremely quick hook. Make it more of a bullpen game.

[h2oface]

Great to see Kepler heating up. We need him. Hell, we need ALL the bats to be alive with this pitching staff that has no real consistent shutdown starter or reliever. The offense has to be able to outscore the opposition. I hope they get a chance to come from behind a couple times in late innings and win, especially against Cleveland, and build confidence for the playoff game(s).

[John Kelsey]

 

I would start Colon over Mejia in a LDS game 4, but have an extremely quick hook. Make it more of a bullpen game.

 

You've gotta be kidding me. 

[drjim]

You've gotta be kidding me.

Not especially. But I could be convinced otherwise with their next starts (mostly Mejia showing me something). For one game I'll take the experience over upside.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

80 wins!

 

My preseason prediction was too pessimistic!!

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

verlander IS pitching for the twins. four wins this month: angels twice, mariners twice.

All the better when you consider Falvey orchestrated that Verlander trade to the 'Stros.

 

 

#7dimensionalChess

[yarnivek1972]

I would start Colon over Mejia in a LDS game 4, but have an extremely quick hook. Make it more of a bullpen game.

Colon may not pitch for the Twins again. His turn would be Monday and they are sure to skip him to keep the other guys on normal rest so Erv is set up for the wild card game. After that his next turn would be Saturday. A game which may mean everything or nothing.

[Darius]

I would start Colon over Mejia in a LDS game 4, but have an extremely quick hook. Make it more of a bullpen game.

They can use a 3-man rotation in the playoffs, and go with Santana, Berrios, or Gibson again in a game 4 (depending on who starts the WC game and games 1-3).

 

That bridge is way too far off to consider at this point. They still have to take care of business in the reg season, then win a one gamer at Yankee Stadium or Fenway, then would have to win 1 of 3 games against Cleveland.

 

But, if for some reason a 4th starter we're to become necessary in the playoffs, it'll depend on the situation (are you facing elimination, up 2-1, etc?). But, I don't see any scenario when I'd want 44 year-old Colon and his 86 mph heater in a game of that magnitude. Mejia is much more likely to keep a team off the scoreboard for 5-6 innings, IMO.

 

It trust Mejia more than guys like Boshers, Duffey, etc right now as well. A bullpen game, with our bullpen, is a punt.

Edited September 23, 2017 by Darius

[Darius]

Sure would have been nice to have Verlander pitching for the Twins.......

Verlander had a no-move. Even if the FO had the ammo to win a bidding war, which they didn't, there is zero chance he's approving a trade to the Twins.

 

It would also be nice to have Sandy Koufax in his prime. Equally as plausible.