Kyle Gibson Must Prove Himself as the Philadelphia Phillies Season Winds Down

Philadelphia Phillies veteran Kyle Gibson needs to pitch well in his final outings if he wants the chance to make his first career postseason start.

Kyle Gibson has made more regular season starts without a postseason start than any other active pitcher. This is his tenth big league season. He has made 259 starts. His only playoff appearance was one inning of relief back in the 2019 ALDS.

Not so long ago, it was almost a given that Gibson would make a start were the Philadelphia Phillies to make the playoffs. But a lot can change over the course of a season. 

First Ranger Suárez proved himself to be a true number three starter. After Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, he will be next in line to get the ball.

Then Noah Syndergaard arrived. Almost as soon as Thor came to town, he and Gibson entered an unspoken competition for the no. 4 starter role. 

More recently, Bailey Falter has been pitching too well to ignore. He joined the rotation to replace the injured Wheeler, but he stuck around after Wheeler returned, forcing Syndergaard into a piggyback role. Before a disastrous appearance on Saturday afternoon, Falter was having a terrific September and it looked like he might sneak past Gibson on the depth chart. 

Gibson, meanwhile, has had anything but a terrific September. He has given up 19 earned runs in 17.1 IP for a 9.68 ERA. He has made it past the fifth inning just once. In two of his four starts, he allowed seven runs to cross the plate. 

Kyle Gibson throws a pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies / Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

So now, with less than two weeks remaining before the MLB postseason kicks off, Philadelphia’s playoff rotation is still up in the air. Gibson remains in the mix to make his first career playoff start, but it’s far from a guarantee. 

Nola, Wheeler, and Suárez are the one-two-three, but the fourth starter role is still very much up for grabs. It seemed like Gibson had the inside track, especially when Syndergaard was moved into a piggyback role, but Gibson has been floundering, and Syndergaard thrived in his first piggyback appearance with Wheeler. Then there is Falter, who got hit around on Saturday but has otherwise been better than either of them this month. 

To make matters more confusing, of Philadelphia’s top three starters, only Wheeler is on track to start in the Wild Card series. Nola and Suárez are both in line to start during the final series of the season, and if the Phillies have yet to clinch their spot by then, they won’t be able to rest two of their best starting pitchers. Rob Thomson will need to decide who is starting Wild Card Game Two on October 8, and it won’t be Nola or Suárez. (Update: Thomson has flipped Nola and Suárez in the rotation to line up Nola to start in the second game of the Wild Card round.)

It could Syndergaard. It could be Falter. But the most likely option is still Kyle Gibson. It’s his job to lose and he just has to not lose it. 

Thus, the final starts of the season will play a crucial role in determining his fate and the fate of Philadelphia’s playoff rotation. If Gibson can find his footing and prove that his last few bad starts are behind him, there is a very good chance he’ll be making his first ever postseason starts this October. But if he cannot prove himself over the final days of the 2022 season, he could lose out on the opportunity he’s been waiting for his entire career. 

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