The Baltimore Orioles added a potential piece to their rotation on Friday, signing Kyle Gibson to a one-year deal. He’s a familiar face, having pitched for the O’s during their 101-win campaign in 2023.
On Saturday, the veteran righty explained why he decided to reunite with the Orioles after spending the 2024 season at home with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Via Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner:
“Playing at home last year [in St. Louis], I got a little spoiled, driving to the field every day and tucking the kids in and taking them to school,” Gibson said. “So we tried to find an opportunity that was more in the Midwest if it was possible, and those just didn’t come up. And then we talked about Baltimore, this was a place we really enjoyed. We knew the clubhouse really well. It was one of the places we thought, if there’s somewhere to play after playing in St. Louis, this is one of those places that would be pretty special.”
Gibson was a key fixture in the Orioles rotation in ’23. He posted a 15-9 record and a 4.73 ERA in 33 starts. Last year, the 37-year-old was also relatively effective with the Cards, going 8-8 with a 4.24 ERA in 30 starts.
Since he was unsigned, Gibson has been throwing to college hitters in spring training, but skipper Brandon Hyde made it clear Friday that he won’t be ready for Opening Day:
“He’s going to have to go through pretty much a whole spring training-type of ramp-up, so it’s going to be a while,” Hyde said. “He’s not going to be ready for a long time, so as you saw last year, it takes a lot of starters. We used a lot of starters last year. So just adding another rotation piece we felt like is important.”
As things stand, Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, and Dean Kremer are the top four starters for the Orioles. Albert Suarez and Cade Povich continue to battle it out for the No. 5 spot. That being said, the Orioles know what Gibson is capable of and he could certainly get starts when ready.
If not, he will be an important arm in the bullpen.
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