THOMA COLUMN| The Gibson Gap: Twins have a hole in their pitching staff – Mankato Free Press

Kyle Gibson has problems in his intestines, which means the Twins have problems in their playoff rotation.

The Gibson we saw Thursday night the Gibson who walked four men and couldnt get out of the second inning against the lowly Royals is unpitchable.

This is bad timing for the Twins, who have just two reliable established starters as a postseason series against either the New York Yankees or Houston Astros looms. No matter who the opponent in the division series, it will be a deep and powerful lineup, a genuine challenge for any pitcher.

It is also bad timing for Gibson, husband, father and provider. He is a free agent this winter and now figures to go into the offseason as damaged goods.

The Mayo Clinics website describes ulcerative colitis as a chronic ailment that has no known cure. The goal of treatment is remission. Gibson figures to deal with this inflammatory disease the rest of his life.

Life isnt fair. Gibsons colitis which appears to be tracable to the E. coli infection he picked up while doing charity work during the winter is likely to damage his marketability more than Michael Pinedas suspension will damage his.

We know Pinedas not going to pitch in October. Its difficult, after Thursday, to imagine the Twins giving Gibson the ball. And I doubt theres a lot of confidence in Martin Perez, the fifth veteran starter.

So the postseason, for however long it lasts for the Twins, figures to be Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi and a lot of bullpenning behind Perez or whatever rookie Rocco Baldelli runs out there.

This isnt necessarily a disaster. Theres a case to be made for the theory that a deep bullpen is more valuable in October than a deep rotation. (See the 2015 Royals.) The Twins bullpen right now may be less famous than some, but its just as effective as anybodys.

Still, a healthy and effective Gibson would be a big help in getting to that bullpen.

Twins fans, and this columnist/blogger is no exception, have beefed plenty about Gibson over the years. He never turned into the top-of-the-rotation stud imagined when the Twins took him in the first round of the 2009 draft, and its exasperating to watch when he starts nibbling and stalling.

But hes been more help than burden over the years, especially after he revamped his mechanics and approach in 2017.

Nick Nelson of Twins Daily pointed this out Friday on Twitter: From Aug 1, 2017 through Aug 1, 2019, Kyle Gibson posted a 3.75 ERA in almost 400 IP and ranked 22nd among all MLB starters in WAR.

Those arbitary endpoints arent so arbitary. August 2017 was when Gibson returned from his second demotion that season and finally had his reworked mechanics in sync. And August of this year is when his intestinal ailment kicked in and wrecked his season.

Gibson was 10-4 with an ERA of 4.10 after his start on July 28. Since then, 3-3, 7.14.

The good is gone. The Twins cant afford to gamble that it will return next month. They may not wish to gamble that it will return in the future, either.

Reach Edward Thoma at (507)344-6377; ethoma@mankatofreepress.com; @bboutsider. He maintains a baseball blog at fpbaseballoutsider.blogspot.com.

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THOMA COLUMN| The Gibson Gap: Twins have a hole in their pitching staff - Mankato Free Press