The Minnesota Twins placed starting pitcher Kyle Gibson on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with a shoulder strain, per MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger.
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Gibson Optimistic About Quick Return
Tuesday, April 26
According to Bollinger, Gibson started feeling shoulder pain in his last start, and he’s looking to be healthy enough to pitch once his DL stint is over.
Gibson is coming off a solid 2015 campaign, and a strong case could be made that he was the Twins’ best pitcher. In 32 starts, he finished 11-11 with a 3.84 ERA. According to FanGraphs, his 2.5 WAR was highest among Minnesota pitchers with at least 100 innings logged, and only Trevor May finished with a lower FIP (3.25) than Gibson (3.96).
Although the 28-year-old right-hander doesn’t look to be a budding ace of the staff, he should be a solid No. 2 or No. 3 starter for a long time in MLB.
Following last year’s 83-79 finish, fans will be expecting more from the Twins in 2016. Taking that into account, Minnesota can ill afford for Gibson to get hurt and/or take a step backward on the mound. The team doesn’t boast a ton of depth in the rotation.
Ervin Santana is also going on the disabled list as a result of back spasms, per Bollinger, further exacerbating the lack of depth.
The news isn’t all bad for Twins fans, though. According to the Star Tribune‘s La Velle E. Neal III, the team is promoting highly touted prospect Jose Berrios with an eye toward giving him the start Wednesday. Baseball Prospectus ranked Berrios second in Minnesota’s system entering the 2016 season, and he’s 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA through three starts in Triple-A.
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