ARLINGTON, Texas — Kyle Gibson used to have a problem, and it stemmed from within.
Through the early portion of his Major League Baseball career, the issue was glaringly evident, but Gibson admittedly wasn’t able to or allowed himself to see it until he was willing to take a step back.
For the Texas Rangers ace and 2021 MLB All-Star, confidence somehow became magnetically affixed to the tangible, to the numbers, the wins, the results.
Caught in the trap, Gibson was forever chasing the elusive to fortify his worth as a pitcher and an athlete.
At least, he was.
“I think confidence is a big thing. It’s not only in professional sports either. Yeah, athletes go through confidence issues as well, but just like in everyday life, it’s about trying to find strongholds and staples that I can put my confidence in,” Gibson remarked.
“That has been kind of transformational for me a little bit throughout my career. I had a lot of stake of my confidence in results early on in my career and a lot of my confidence came from if I threw well or if I threw bad. It would wreck my confidence, and I don’t think that’s necessarily the right thing to put your confidence in.”
For Gibson, being at his best on the mound is a balancing act as is accepting the worst much like the 2021 season opener at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium on April Fool’s Day, which would have potentially shattered the old version of himself.
Getting the starting nod for the season opener, a first in his career, Gibson struggled mightily. Despite having previous success in Kansas City in his career, nothing went his way through one-third inning as he surrendered five earned runs, walked three and only struck out one before getting pulled.
Disappointing, no doubt, but a bloated 135.00 ERA to commence the season wasn’t enough to rattle him the rest of month, let alone the past three-plus.
“Confidence is a lot like joy. Confidence has to be something that’s inner and rooted in something that is kind of unshakable or else you’re going to be tossed around with the ways of life,” Gibson said.
“For me, my confidence on the field has a lot to do with my preparation and the work that I put in beforehand. Whether in the bullpen or in my scouting reports. That’s allowed me from letting one inning impacting the next, one start from impacting the next. It’s knowing that when I take the mound each inning, I have a plan and that’s what I have my confidence in. From there it’s just go out and execute.”
When Gibson doesn’t execute, his confidence perpetually remains the same, and that resolve has aligned him to a career-best season along with household name status as a first-time MLB All-Star for the American League.
From a five-digit ERA to sixth-best in the AL at the MLB All-Star break, Gibson systematically chiseled away at the gaudy figure with 15 consecutive quality starts from April 7 to, at one point this month, leading the league in ERA at 1.98.
“When you don’t execute well that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have confidence in yourself. It just means maybe that inning wasn’t your best inning,” Gibson said.
“Obviously, when you’re throwing well, your confidence stays a little bit higher, but I still think it’s important to remember that there’s still possibly a bad outing right around the corner, and you can’t allow one bad outing to impact your confidence because if you’re going out there and not throwing pitches with conviction and confidence, then it really doesn’t matter any preparation you do. You’re probably not going to put out your best work and that goes for about anybody in any job or in any walk of life.”
Tonight, as the American League and National League MLB All-Stars meet at Colorado’s Coors Field for the Midsummer Classic, Gibson is both walking the walk and talking the talk as one of three representatives for the Rangers.
Perhaps one of the oldest players on the AL roster at 33, Gibson’s journey to the MLB All-Star game has unfolded in his eighth full, big league season after getting called up in 2013 with the Minnesota Twins.
Prior to signing a three-year, $28 million contract with the Rangers in 2019, Gibson spent seven seasons with Twins, and beyond his 2015 and 2018 years, his numbers have never been as strong.
In 2015, Gibson’s ERA by season’s end was 3.84 with an 11-11 record. In 2018, he went 10-13 with a 3.62 ERA and in 2019, he won a career-best 13 games.
This season, his 2.29 ERA through 102.0 innings pitched ranks him sixth in the AL and his 88 strikeouts have him on pace to potentially match his previous highs of 179 in 2018 and 160 in 2019.
A 22nd overall MLB draft pick of Minnesota’s in 2009, Gibson has seen his fair share of ups and downs, with a short-lived demotion in 2017 to the minors and a trying condensed-season in 2020 as his turned in a 5.35 ERA in 67.1 innings for the Rangers.
Now, however, his name has been tossed around by multiple rumor websites as a potential trade candidate for a probable MLB playoff-contending team.
Gibson has become synonymous with star since April as one of the league’s best starting pitchers at 6-1.
“I’m not sure if it’s really quite sunk in. I think, trying to keep it all in perspective and not to be or try to push it away and not have confidence in what I’ve been doing but also realizing there’s a lot of season left, and the goal is obviously to win as many games as possible and win the last couple of games of the season,” Gibson said.
“Try not to completely ignore it and celebrate successes because I might not ever have a season like this again. You just never know, so I’m just trying to enjoy it and be appreciative of the compliments you get but also understand there’s still a lot of work to do.”
The effort began for Gibson after his first season with the Rangers as pitching coach Doug Mathis, Brendan Sagara and Run Prevention Coordinator Brett Hayes sat their veteran down in the offseason.
The coaching staff presented Gibson with a 40-page PowerPoint presentation, identifying mechanical issues, effectiveness and weaknesses with a plan of action.
“The difference between 2020 and 2021 is also a really small thing here and there. I know it seems kind of crazy, but if I look back at 2020, when I was pitching out of the windup, I was actually still pretty decent. I had pretty similar numbers to this year out of the windup, but I had a glaring mechanical issue from the stretch that I did not recognize until my ninth or eighth start last year,” Gibson said.
“That really allowed me to kick start into the offseason and understand that I had found a really major adjustment that I needed to do that really kind of put my mind at ease a little bit.
“From there, it was just about physically trying to get myself healthy, keeping that stomach health going and keeping that where it needs to be, but then also taking some strength views and exercises to really help that mechanical adjustment take hold and to be stronger on the mound.”
Suffering from E. coli and ulcerative colitis after a missionary trip to Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the 2019 offseason, Gibson has been on a strict diet the past few years.
While it’s a factor, it hasn’t played a major role since he incorporated a new nutritional regime, but strength training was an area of focus in the recent offseason.
He collaborated with trainers at the Florida Baseball Armory before spring training where he gained power working down the mound and not just muscle strength. Rangers’ strength coach Jose Vazquez integrated additional elements to make sure Gibson was ready for this summer.
The technical aspects were another part of the Gibson’s confidence building protocol.
“That mechanical adjustment really allowed my sinker to become better again and to be where I needed that sinker to be because last year out of the stretch it was just really bad. That was kind of the thing that got me in trouble last year,” Gibson said.
April Fool’s Day, while troublesome, was merely a blip and the launching point.
“That’s the crazy part, I don’t think a whole lot needed to change. I think, if I look back, I was really critical of myself obviously after that first start, and as I looked back and kind of see how it transpired. I was maybe a couple of feet away from having a double play and really giving up no runs. I was really close on a couple of pitches that got away,” Gibson said.
“I think, I had a little mechanical issue going on that we fixed after the first start, but you know, trying to be somewhat realistic while being critical and understanding that one-third of an inning or 30 pitches shouldn’t cause me to completely overhaul things.”
Instead, Gibson and the Rangers coaches avoided having a “knee jerk reaction” and stayed the course, which has him ready to go tonight.
Among the spectators, nearly 40 of Gibson’s family, friends and former teammates from the University of Missouri will be in attendance. His wife, Elizabeth, and his three children are also going to be there.
“Just the whole experience has been incredible. Sometimes, it’s hard to put into words and to really express the gratitude and what it means. It’s obviously a different experience then I’ve ever had. I’ve never been selected to be part of a group of players that have had so much success in the first half to be recognized like this,” Gibson said.
“I think one of the things I’m looking forward to is just being in the locker room with a lot of guys who are at the top of their game. To be mentioned in that group and to be part of that group, I’m super appreciative of that and humbled to be a part of it.”
As for his future, if he’s with the Rangers, who are 35-55 at last place in the AL West, Gibson intends to lead the building organization by example. If not, he’s eager to contribute wherever, minus the special MLB All-Star game New Balance spikes that he recently spotlighted on his Twitter feed.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily something I’ve worked toward for my entire career. It’s not a goal that I’ve had really to be an all-star, so it’s not something I would say is a dream, but I’m sure it will feel a little bit like a dream being out there,” Gibson said.
“I’ve obviously thought about it. I’ve always wanted to have that type of success to be able to be named an all-star, but the personal accolades and mid-season accolades like this isn’t exactly why you play the game. I think, it’s just a nice reward and a nice thing to be able to celebrate in the moment and to share that moment with friends and family like I”m looking forward to be able to do.”
Kyle Gibson’s Career Pitching Statistics
Season;Team;Gms;GS;W-L;IP;H;Runs;ER;HR;BB;K;ERA;WHIP;BAA
2013;MIN;10;10;2-4;51.0;69;38;37;7;20;29;6.53;1.75;.327
2014;MIN;31;31;13-12;179.1;178;91;89;12;57;107;4.47;1.31;.258
2015;MIN;32;32;11-11;194.2;186;88;83;18;65;145;3.84;1.29;.252
2016;MIN;25;25;6-11;147.1;175;89;83;20;55;104;5.07;1.56;.298
2017;MIN;29;29;12-10;158.0;182;93;89;24;60;121;5.07;1.53;.292
2018;MIN;32;32;10-13;196.2;177;88;79;23;79;179;3.62;1.30;.241
2019;MIN;34;29;13-7;160.0;175;99;86;23;56;160;4.84;1.44;.275
*2019;MIN;1;0;1.0;1;3;3;0;3;1;27.00;4.00;.250
2020;TEX;12;12;2-6;67.1;73;44;40;12;30;58;5.35;1.53;.275
2021;TEX;17;17;6-1;102.0;78;27;26;8;31;88;2.29;1.07;.210
Total;-;222;217;75-75;1,256.1;1,293;657;612;147;453;991;4.38;1.39;.266
* Postseason statistics, not included in career totals
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