ESPN (Sarris) -
Gibson had a decent season last year, but he's basically a .500 pitcher so far, and even in his best season he was only five percent better than league average. He's proven he can get ground balls -- he's seventh in ground-ball rate among qualified starters the last two seasons -- but to take a step forward, he'll need to strike out more guys. He's got the sixth-worst strikeout rate among qualified pitchers over the same time frame.
The good news is that he has the tools to get more strikeouts. His changeup, slider and curveball all deliver above-average strikeout rates. He just chooses to pitch to contact and throw the fastball over 60 percent of the time.
The best news, though, is that his approach may slowly be changing. In the second half of last year, he threw more changeups and curves and fewer sinkers and sliders. Last September, he posted a 16 percent strikeout-minus-walk rate, his best monthly production in that category and a number that would have been good for top-25 status last season.
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