Kyle Gibson with a stress fracture

by Adam J. Morris on Jun 6, 2009 12:41 PM CDT Comment 31 comments

Mizzou righty Kyle Gibson, ranked #4 on BA's pre-draft top 200 prospect list, has a stress fracture in his forearm, won't throw for six weeks, and is almost certainly going to slide on the draft boards.

Andy Seiler had a blog post up prior to this news breaking, detailing highly regarded college pitchers with heavy workloads, and the first guy he looks at is...Gibson.

That's going to screw up the top of the draft, as Gibson was widely expected to be gone when the Rangers pick.

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Isn't the flip side of the college/high school pitcher debate

that a good number of college guys are screwed up considerably by their workload? Yeah, the high school power arm is about as hit or miss as they come, but the college arm, while predictable in what you’ll get if healthy, may well be screwed up by it’s usage. There is usually a lot of mileage on a 21 year old top college arm, especially if his team has gone deep into the post season most years.

Just step back from pitch counts for a second too. A great high school kid doesn’t need to throw every pitch near 100% to get guys out. A good college guy in a top conference does. So 120 pitches per college game is worrisome, especially as you get into playoffs etc where guys are pushed even harder to do well for their team/draft stock on the national stage.

Go Rice Owls!

by JBImaknee on Jun 6, 2009 12:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Is Gibson someone the Rangers would be interested in if he does slide to them?

by Inkara1 on Jun 6, 2009 1:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Maybe in the 2nd or 3rd round

by Adam J. Morris on Jun 6, 2009 1:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I bet

he will be available as late as the 4th round.

by Michael Cave on Jun 6, 2009 1:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

He may be

I was just saying I don’t see them using their first, or even supplemental first, on him, but as of the 2nd round, he might become an option.

by Adam J. Morris on Jun 6, 2009 1:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh yeah i know,

and i wouldnt be upset if the Rangers picked him in the 2nd round or below.

by Michael Cave on Jun 6, 2009 2:41 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

3rd

I would take Gibson in the 3rd and not think twice about it. Even give him a million in bonus. Probably would pick him in the 2nd as well.

by peachygbc_1 on Jun 6, 2009 3:44 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

nah

look at brackman

"if my kid said 'uhh' that much, i would say, Hey! ... stop saying 'uhh' that much..." - dennis miller

by Longhorn on Jun 6, 2009 2:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Does Gibson have the ceiling of Brackman?

I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking.

FWIW, Brackman is looking like a horrendous pick at this point, just as many of the observers predicted.

"wORLD sEIRES HERE WE COMER!!!!!!!!!"by bigsteve on May 29, 2009 10:21 PM PDT
"Elvis Andrus has just performed a miracle." -Eric Nadel

by WestTxAg06 on Jun 6, 2009 2:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No

Brackman was a weird, special case.

by Adam J. Morris on Jun 6, 2009 2:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ive havent really been on any other team's blog

but the expertise of the posters on this site is unreal with Andy Seiler, Shroomer, Perryman, Jamey, Hindman, et al. Unreal….

by Michael Cave on Jun 6, 2009 1:08 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

It's pretty damn nice.

I bet the minor league game threads here get more hits than some other’s major league GTs.

"I saw your act, just didn't make it for me. Just a lot of fluff."

by scoop16 on Jun 6, 2009 1:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

How serious is this injury?

Adam says we should only be interested in him in the 2nd or 3rd round. Someone else said he might be available in the 4th round.

If the injury isn’t that serious, why not take a chance on him? Our farm system is strong enough to take a chance like that. Scheppers was taken with the first pick in the 2nd round I believe with his injury. I would love to take a chance on getting Gibson with the 2nd round pick but he might not last that long.

Draft Gibson with the supp. and shut him down for the year. Ross didn’t pitch at all when we drafted him. Will Gibson be alright if we shut him down for the year and let his arm rest? If yes, it’s worth it for a top 5 talent.

by Coolbean04 on Jun 6, 2009 1:42 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The advantage of taking him

in the first supp or second (not sure about the third) is that we still have a little leverage in case the injury is worse than thought: we would get the pick back next year if we chose not to sign him…

http://minormoosings.blogspot.com/

by Goyogringo on Jun 6, 2009 3:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I thought you only get a pick back

in the 1st round and not the supp. or second.

by Coolbean04 on Jun 6, 2009 3:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Injury isnt incredibly serious

will require 6-8 weeks of rest, PT, then whatever amount of time after that to get his strength back.

The more alarming thing is that this injury can be a sign of lack of muscle in the forearm area, bad mechanics, or possible an issue with bone density in the fore arm area which can occur in young people. Most likely it was due to lack of leam muscle tissue in the area, causing the repeated pitching motion to put unusually high amounts of force on bone instead of muscle and/or other soft tissue.

This is our year.

http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/1/29/739765/the-socket-joint-rotator-c

by PM Productions on Jun 6, 2009 1:49 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

This really throws a wrench in the draft

I was really hoping a guy like leake would fall but theres no chance in hell now

"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg

by rentz on Jun 6, 2009 1:57 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, this really concerns me

Though I’m certainly interested in Gibson if he slides far enough, I’m more interested in what this does to the draft board. If, say, Baltimore was really set on taking pitching early on, and assuming Crow is gone at that point, one would have to think they’d seriously consider popping Matzek or Wheeler, which in turn affects what San Fran and Atlanta do, which, by all evidence I’ve seen, bears heavily on who the Rangers will have available to them.

My first impression is that this makes it more unlikely that Miller is around at #14. Dang it.

"wORLD sEIRES HERE WE COMER!!!!!!!!!"by bigsteve on May 29, 2009 10:21 PM PDT
"Elvis Andrus has just performed a miracle." -Eric Nadel

by WestTxAg06 on Jun 6, 2009 2:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

knock on wood but

watch miller be available at 13 and then the A’s nab him. That would just piss me off ha.

by Michael Cave on Jun 6, 2009 2:46 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

They were one pick away from getting Smoak last year when we grabbed him

So a) Beane would no doubt love to do a little tit for tat, and b) the “what goes around, comes around” principle would suggest we deserve it.

"wORLD sEIRES HERE WE COMER!!!!!!!!!"by bigsteve on May 29, 2009 10:21 PM PDT
"Elvis Andrus has just performed a miracle." -Eric Nadel

by WestTxAg06 on Jun 6, 2009 2:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Mo gets smoked in the 9th:

0.2 3 4 3 1 0

And CC Bigs pretty meh too:

8.0 5 5 4 3 5 2

"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
Yes we can! November 04, 2008

by Rodney on Jun 6, 2009 3:30 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Does anyone know where in the forearm the stress fracture actually is?

I suspect the injury is near his olecranon (the elbow-end of the ulna). Gibson relies on his slider, and sliders are usually thrown with a supinated grip. This can cause the olecranon to slam into it’s fossa (notch) in the humerus. Repeatedly doing this inflames cartilage and causes irregular bone growth (bone spurs, lengthening, etc.). Stress fractures are another possibility.

If this is where his injury is, I’m less inclined to Gibson anywhere in the draft because of the crossover implications for his slider and his health.

Draft Prospect: Tyler Matzek, LHP, Capistrano Valley HS - TexasLeaguers.com

by NoNameOnCard on Jun 6, 2009 5:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs