Gibson sent down to AAA Rochester.

[LaBombo]

[Kwak]

Kind of expected. He would be shut down soon enough anyway, and his performances did not indicate "major league". Will he improve next year? I certainly hope so--or it's off to the glue factory with this horse.

[John Bonnes]

Has anyone read the Twins rationale on this? It isn't because they want him pitching there, right? Is he actually going to pitch there?

[Riverbrian]

Gibson said that he doesn't want to go to the pen... He wants to continue to start and help Rochester win a championship.

 

If we can help Rochester win something... The affiliate would appreciate it I'm sure.

[LaBombo]

Has anyone read the Twins rationale on this? It isn't because they want him pitching there, right? Is he actually going to pitch there?

If it were preordained due to arm conservation it would've been nice to know before he went out and got knocked around.

 

This way it looks like just another demotion after a rough outing.

[Mr. Brooks]

Gibson said that he doesn't want to go to the pen... He wants to continue to start and help Rochester win a championship.

 

If we can help Rochester win something... The affiliate would appreciate it I'm sure.

 

He is really close to his innings limit, is he not? He might be able to give him 1 or 2 starts, but not much in the playoffs, correct?

[drjim]

Has anyone read the Twins rationale on this? It isn't because they want him pitching there, right? Is he actually going to pitch there?

 

Are you looking for something other than horsebleep performance?

[IdahoPilgrim]

He is really close to his innings limit, is he not? He might be able to give him 1 or 2 starts, but not much in the playoffs, correct?

 

No one knows what his innings limit is, or at least nobody is saying. That said, I think you're right - 1 or 2 starts is probably about it. And if he can get them a couple of wins, that could be big for them in the stretch. Tight race, every game may count.

 

My guess (and just that) is he finishes the regular Triple-A season and then is shut down, regardless of whether they make the playoffs or not.

[Mr. Brooks]

If it were preordained due to arm conservation it would've been nice to know before he went out and got knocked around.

 

This way it looks like just another demotion after a rough outing.

 

Wasn't the reason for waiting so long to get him up here because they wanted him up here for good?

 

Of course a rebuttal is that they couldn't have predicted he'd pitch this poorly.

To that, I say 2 things.

1) It should have been pretty well expected that he would struggle. Maybe not this much, but after all he's facing mlb hitters for the first time with a dead arm (140 IP after not pitching much last year).

2) At the time I said that was a dumb reason, because no matter how long you wait to call him is no guarantee that his performance won't warrant a demotion.

 

JUST TO BE CLEAR: I don't have a problem with the demotion, I have a problem with wasting 90+ of his freshest innings in AAA.

[Mike Sixel]

Bummer....Hicks and Gibson.......just a bummer

[IdahoPilgrim]

JUST TO BE CLEAR: I don't have a problem with the demotion, I have a problem with wasting 90+ of his freshest innings in AAA.

 

Of course, he wasn't that sharp in Triple-A at first either. It wasn't until mid-May that he hit his stride and was actually deserving of a callup. Maybe he should have been up a couple of weeks earlier (3 starts?) but not more than that.

[Mr. Brooks]

Of course, he wasn't that sharp in Triple-A at first either. It wasn't until mid-May that he hit his stride and was actually deserving of a callup. Maybe he should have been up a couple of weeks earlier (3 starts?) but not more than that.

 

I disagree. He should have been here as soon as he was physically ready.

He's 25 (almost 26, I believe?) years old. What harm is done if he struggles a bit then, we fall out of the division race?

[Halsey Hall]

Seems like I was the only one that didn't think he was ready when brought up, but felt, well, give it a go. Perhaps management felt the same way. After all he did pitch a few good games, but usually followed by not so good. Might as well see what he does. He's done it now, and not so good. If he can help Rochester win a couple, all the better. Same with Colabello. I think Gibson will be better next season, but he won't ever be the ace some seem to have him pegged as.

[Halsey Hall]

I disagree. He should have been here as soon as he was physically ready.

He's 25 (almost 26, I believe?) years old. What harm is done if he struggles a bit then, we fall out of the division race?

 

The Twins try to put a player in a position where he will have some success. That's why.

[IdahoPilgrim]

I disagree. He should have been here as soon as he was physically ready.

He's 25 (almost 26, I believe?) years old. What harm is done if he struggles a bit then, we fall out of the division race?

 

I understand the argument that he needs MLB experience to know how to pitch in MLB. That said, if he's not ready, he's not ready, and should not be up.

 

I guess it comes down to whether his struggles are due to arm fatigue or just not enough preparation in the minors (like Hicks). I'm guessing that many will assume the issue is arm fatigue, but Gibson himself said just last week that his arm still feels strong. Granted, you can't always go on what an athlete says, but neither can we assume the opposite either.

 

If it is arm fatigue, your point is well made. If it is that he just needs to learn a little more, then bringing him up earlier would have made no difference - he still would have been rocked, just in July rather than August.

 

There could be some benefit to this move in addition to supporting the affiliate in a playoff run. Perhaps Kyle can take some of his MLB experience and his "schooling" in what he needs to work on and focus on that in a slightly lower pressure environment.

[Mr. Brooks]

The Twins try to put a player in a position where he will have some success. That's why.

 

And they achieved that by calling him up to face MLB hitters for the first time in his life with a dead arm?

That's my whole point, call him up while his arm is fresh and he has a chance, don't call him up after he's thrown 100 innings (after not pitching much last year) and throw him to the wolves.

[Mr. Brooks]

Seems like I was the only one that didn't think he was ready when brought up, but felt, well, give it a go. Perhaps management felt the same way. After all he did pitch a few good games, but usually followed by not so good. Might as well see what he does. He's done it now, and not so good. If he can help Rochester win a couple, all the better. Same with Colabello. I think Gibson will be better next season, but he won't ever be the ace some seem to have him pegged as.

 

Who has him pegged as an ace?

I think most people have been on the same page since the day he was drafted that his upside is a solid #2 or good #3.

And I don't think his performance this year changes that one bit. I take nothing out of this other than he got some valuable experience, and I wish he had gotten a chance with a fresh arm, but the numbers don't concern me.

[Mr. Brooks]

I understand the argument that he needs MLB experience to know how to pitch in MLB. That said, if he's not ready, he's not ready, and should not be up.

 

I guess it comes down to whether his struggles are due to arm fatigue or just not enough preparation in the minors (like Hicks). I'm guessing that many will assume the issue is arm fatigue, but Gibson himself said just last week that his arm still feels strong. Granted, you can't always go on what an athlete says, but neither can we assume the opposite either.

 

If it is arm fatigue, your point is well made. If it is that he just needs to learn a little more, then bringing him up earlier would have made no difference - he still would have been rocked, just in July rather than August.

 

There could be some benefit to this move in addition to supporting the affiliate in a playoff run. Perhaps Kyle can take some of his MLB experience and his "schooling" in what he needs to work on and focus on that in a slightly lower pressure environment.

 

Again, the bolded is kind of my point.

No matter how long you wait to call him up, he is going to have to face MLB hitters for the very first time in his life at some point.

He is not an elite prospect. He should never have been expected to come up and dominate. No matter how long you wait, there was going to be a learning curve, I don't care if you wait until he's 35.

So, if you are going to have that learning curve either way, why not give him a shot when you know his arm is fresh, rather than later when it now has to become a question of, is his arm dead, or is he just bad?

[snepp]

The Twins try to put a player in a position where he will have some success. That's why.

 

Aaron Hicks says, "News to me!"

[LaBombo]

Aaron Hicks says, "News to me!"

Ouch. Too soon.

[drjim]

And they achieved that by calling him up to face MLB hitters for the first time in his life with a dead arm?

That's my whole point, call him up while his arm is fresh and he has a chance, don't call him up after he's thrown 100 innings (after not pitching much last year) and throw him to the wolves.

 

This is a lame excuse. It would have a little validity if he as good for the first 4-5 starts and then started to fade, but he has been pretty poor from the time he came up. He got a decent amount of innings in last year so he shouldn't have been so toast after less than 100 minor league innings.

 

I like Gibson and hope he does well, and the Twins surely need him, but we might want to start preparing for the fact that his stuff just might not be good enough.

[Mr. Brooks]

This is a lame excuse. It would have a little validity if he as good for the first 4-5 starts and then started to fade, but he has been pretty poor from the time he came up. He got a decent amount of innings in last year so he shouldn't have been so toast after less than 100 minor league innings.

 

I like Gibson and hope he does well, and the Twins surely need him, but we might want to start preparing for the fact that his stuff just might not be good enough.

 

I think that would be a gross overreaction.

I'm putting little, if any stock into the numbers of this relatively SSS, considering ALL the factors.

P.S. For what it's worth, up until today his xFIP wasn't terrible, so I'm holding out hope that he did in fact come up here throwing well, and maybe had a little bit of bad luck which then progressed into fatigue.

[darin617]

Has anyone read the Twins rationale on this? It isn't because they want him pitching there, right? Is he actually going to pitch there?

 

Most likely Gibson was going to get shut down soon because of the innings limit. I would have to say they don't want him to gain any more service time. Just watch they will let him pitch 1 or 2 more times at Rochester and then he will be done for the year.

[darin617]

Who has him pegged as an ace?

I think most people have been on the same page since the day he was drafted that his upside is a solid #2 or good #3.

Have you looked at the rest of the SP on the Twins? Who else could be an ace? nobody on the 40 man roster for sure.

[Pius Jefferson]

Aaron Hicks says, "News to me!"

 

Different circumstances. Twins to their own fault had no real options to replace Hicks on the roster.

[Guest USAFChief]

I like Gibson and hope he does well, and the Twins surely need him, but we might want to start preparing for the fact that his stuff just might not be good enough.

+1.

 

We all want Gibson to end up a good major league starter. But, while SSS, fatigue, jitters, etc etc etc could certainly be part of the explanation, IMO he displayed nothing to get one's hopes up. He didn't throw hard, didn't display much in the way of breaking stuff, and didn't miss bats. He might have been the single biggest disappointment of 2013.

[stringer bell]

I do agree that the results are disappointing. I suspect that results were effected by his poor luck, nervousness, fatigue, and probably loss of confidence. Perhaps he will need to rebuild his confidence in Rochester next spring, perhaps not. I will say that sending him to AAA has more to do with the roster crunch until the end of the season than anything else. I'm sure he'll be shut down after a couple more starts.

[Mr. Brooks]

Have you looked at the rest of the SP on the Twins? Who else could be an ace? nobody on the 40 man roster for sure.

 

By "ace", I didn't mean simply the best pitcher on your respective team.

His upside is Brad Radke, in that he might be your #1 pitcher, but ideally he shouldn't be. Ideally he should be #2 or even #3 if you have a good staff.

[Winston Smith]

So our rotation for next year is becoming crystal clear?

http://l.yimg.com/ck/image/A1642/164215/150_164215.jpg

[Mike Sixel]

Kind of looking like sometimes trading prospects is a good idea....imagine if hicks was dealt for cliff lee....or if Gibson had been dealt.....not saying to give up on either, I am reminding people that prospects are not always going to work out, or maybe not on the timeline you imagine....