Kyle Gibson

Kyle Benjamin Gibson (born October 23, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He has previously played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Baltimore Orioles.

The Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB) selected Gibson in the 36th round of the 2006 MLB Draft, but he chose not to sign.

Instead, he opted to play college baseball for the Missouri Tigers, serving as the No. 2 starter behind Aaron Crow.

In 2007, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star.

The Twins selected Gibson in the first round, 22nd overall, of the 2009 MLB Draft, and he made his MLB debut in 2013.

Gibson was born in Greenfield, Indiana, to Harold and Sharon Gibson.

He has a sister named Holly.

Between his freshman and sophomore years of high school, Gibson transferred from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis to Greenfield-Central High School; as a result, the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) ruled that he could not play for Greenfield-Central's high school baseball team for one season.

During his junior year, he was 7–2 and led the Cougars to a sectional championship and to the regional final.

In his senior year, he was 8–6 with a 0.98 ERA and 140 strikeouts.

He led Greenfield to the Elite Eight by pitching all of his team's tournament games.

He was named the Hancock County Player of the Year after his senior year.

He was also named to the Indianapolis Star All-East team in both his junior and senior years.

After his senior year, he was named All-East Player of the Year and made the Indiana All-Star Team.

Despite worries that a stress fracture to his elbow would negatively impact his chances in the 2009 MLB Draft, the Minnesota Twins selected Gibson in the first round, 22nd overall after receiving the all-clear from the team's doctor.

Negotiations for Gibson's signing bonus forced his decision to sign with the team into the final hour before the August 16 deadline, with Gibson ultimately agreeing to sign with the team for a bonus of $1.85 million.

The stress fracture pushed Gibson's professional baseball debut back to the beginning of the 2010 season, when he was assigned to the Class A-Advanced Fort Myers Miracle of the Florida State League.

In seven starts with Fort Myers, Gibson posted a 4–1 record and a 1.87 ERA, striking out 40 batters in 43 2⁄3 innings of work.

Gibson's stint with the Miracle was short-lived: on May 11, he was promoted to the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats in order to clear room on the Fort Myers 25-man roster for new pitchers Loek van Mil and Andrei Lobanov.

After winning his first three Double-A starts and building a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.17 in his first month and a half with his new team, Gibson was one of three Rock Cats players selected to appear at the 2010 Eastern League All-Star Game that July.

Gibson put up a 7–5 record at New Britain, with a 3.68 ERA in 16 starts and 77 strikeouts in 93 innings, before he received another promotion to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings on August 11.

He had been called up to replace Jeff Manship, who had been promoted to the major leagues as a fill-in for the injured Jose Mijares.

Twins minor league director Jim Rantz informed reporters that there was no intention of promoting Gibson beyond Rochester during the 2010 season, as the team wanted to shut him down after 150–160 innings, and he had already pitched 136 1⁄3 between Fort Myers and New Britain.

He was shut down on August 25 in order to preserve his forearm for future seasons.

At the time, Gibson had gone 0–0 with a 1.72 ERA in three Triple-A starts, giving him a combined 11–6 record and 2.96 ERA for the year.

He had pitched a total of 152 innings, with 126 strikeouts and 39 walks, and had been placed on the disabled list with a sprained ankle.

Going into the 2011 season as Baseball America's top-ranked prospect with in the Twins organization, Gibson received an invitation to spring training.

He was assigned to Rochester for the season, where he seemed to experience a sophomore slump: Gibson did not win a game for the Red Wings after May 29, and was 3–8 with a 4.81 ERA when he was placed on the disabled list at the start of August with an elbow injury.

After a non-surgical rehabilitation program did not improve his health, Gibson underwent Tommy John surgery to repair his ulnar collateral ligament.

He returned to the mound in 2012, pitching a series of rehab assignments for the Twins' lower-level affiliates before returning to Rochester on August 22, 2012, for the final two weeks of the International League season.

In two starts at the end of the season, Gibson went 0–2 with a 9.45 ERA, striking out 10 batters in 6 2⁄3 innings.

He continued his rehabilitation process in the Arizona Fall League, where he finished 3–2 with a 5.40 ERA, striking out 28 batters and allowing 31 hits in 23 1⁄3 innings.

Gibson opened the 2013 season in Rochester, with Twins management anticipating that he would make his MLB debut sometime that season.

The Twins called Gibson up to the major leagues on June 25, 2013, after starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey suffered a back injury that placed him on the disabled list.

At the time, he was the ninth pitcher to start a game for Minnesota during the 2013 MLB season, and his promotion offered a path to remain in the majors for the remainder of the year.

Gibson was credited with the win in his MLB debut, allowing two runs and eight hits while striking out five batters in six innings on June 29.

The Twins defeated the Kansas City Royals 6–2.

His success did not continue past that debut, as Gibson struggled to strike out batters in his future starts.

After posting a 2–4 record and a 6.53 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 10 starts and 51 innings, Gibson was optioned back to Rochester on August 19.