Orioles sign Kyle Gibson

[btdart20]

On 12/3/2022 at 3:39 PM, btdart20 said:

This is clearly an upgrade over Lyles. Not the TOR we need, but a solid above-average inning-eater. 

Compared to Lyles, Gibson has better movement on his sinker, much higher chase%, better GB rate, less barrel%, better xISO, xERA, xBA, Whiff%, and less HR (in a much more HR friendly park) in 2022.  Lyles floor heading into 2022 (ie pre-Holt) was much lower then Gibson’s heading into 2023.  Lyles just posted one of his best years.  Gibson just posted top line stats negatively out of line with solid metrics under the hood.

His sinker is the pitch that can be used/sequenced better.  Great movement, but a -4 run value seems odd.

Most of his pitches have vertical action.  If he can get that sweeping slider that Holt teaches, it’ll give him something with horizontal action in his bag of tricks.  Gibson’s 2019 stats are with a plus horizontal break on his slider, so he’s capable.

Elias seems to think Gibson will benefit from better sequencing.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-torey-lovullo-loves-arizonas-young-talent-so-does-gabe-kapler/
 

Along with citing the 35-year-old right-hander’s six-pitch mix, he said that his team’s pitching department saw ways in which Gibson could improve.

I asked the GM if he could elaborate.

“First off, I think he had a lot of bad luck last year,” Elias replied. “We’ve got a great defense and a more-forgiving home ballpark — I think that’s going to help him — but we [also] have some thoughts about sequencing that we’re hopeful will be helpful to a guy with the wide array of pitches he has. I would say that would be the main area.”

[btdart20]

On 12/3/2022 at 3:39 PM, btdart20 said:

This is clearly an upgrade over Lyles. Not the TOR we need, but a solid above-average inning-eater. 

Compared to Lyles, Gibson has better movement on his sinker, much higher chase%, better GB rate, less barrel%, better xISO, xERA, xBA, Whiff%, and less HR (in a much more HR friendly park) in 2022.  Lyles floor heading into 2022 (ie pre-Holt) was much lower then Gibson’s heading into 2023.  Lyles just posted one of his best years.  Gibson just posted top line stats negatively out of line with solid metrics under the hood.

His sinker is the pitch that can be used/sequenced better.  Great movement, but a -4 run value seems odd.

Most of his pitches have vertical action.  If he can get that sweeping slider that Holt teaches, it’ll give him something with horizontal action in his bag of tricks.  Gibson’s 2019 stats are with a plus horizontal break on his slider, so he’s capable.

Elias seems to think Gibson will benefit from better sequencing.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-torey-lovullo-loves-arizonas-young-talent-so-does-gabe-kapler/
 

Along with citing the 35-year-old right-hander’s six-pitch mix, he said that his team’s pitching department saw ways in which Gibson could improve.

I asked the GM if he could elaborate.

“First off, I think he had a lot of bad luck last year,” Elias replied. “We’ve got a great defense and a more-forgiving home ballpark — I think that’s going to help him — but we [also] have some thoughts about sequencing that we’re hopeful will be helpful to a guy with the wide array of pitches he has. I would say that would be the main area.”