By Rob Rains
JUPITER, Fla. – While the Cardinals went through their second full-squad workout of the spring on Tuesday, Kyle Gibson was hoping there was enough snow on the ground at his home in Washington, Mo., to take his four kids sledding.
Being home at this time of the year has been a strange experience for Gibson, who has been pitching professionally since 2009 and spent last season with the Cardinals. He wants to keep pitching, for somebody, this year.
Gibson and his agent, Randy Rowley, have had multiple conversations with teams but Gibson is still one of several unsigned free agents available.
“When I was a senior in high school, in 2006, was probably the last time I was home (at this time of year),” Gibson said in a telephone interview. “I’m living vicariously through the social media postings of guys throwing lives and hitters swinging and guys being excited to be back in the locker room.
“It’s definitely weird. I told Elizabeth (his wife) the other day that it’s weird not being there. I love doing PFP’s (pitcher fielding practice). It’s awkward not being there for that, but it’s one of those things. I love being around my kids and Elizabeth, so it’s kind of bittersweet right now.”
“Workouts are going good,” Gibson said. “I’ve been on the mound six or seven times. I’ve been throwing to a kid named Drew Buehler and I actually went to college at Mizzou with his uncle Brad. The kid actually is pretty good; it’s been fun throwing to him.”
As fun as it has been, it isn’t what Gibson expected to be doing this time of year.
“Honestly this is not at all what I thought it would be,” he said. “I know free agency every year is different, just talking to guys. The last couple of times I’ve done it we have been pretty pro-active. We were this time too, but it’s been weird that most of the conversations have been the same.
“People are just willing to wait right now I guess is the best way I can put it. … I’m optimistic. I definitely want to play. I feel really good, My bullpen the other day I threw 50 pitches and felt really good. That is a big part of feeling optimistic because I still know in my head I can get outs and I know physically that I feel really good.
“The unfortunate part of right now is an injury is really the best way for me to get a job and that’s never the mindset that I want to be in. I don’t want to feel like an ambulance chaser, waiting for somebody to get hurt and showing up at the scene of the crime. I’ve been the guy who was hurt during the season and that’s not fun. I definitely don’t wish that on anybody.”
Gibson said multiple teams have discussed giving him a non-roster invitation to camp or offer an open workout/tryout opportunity, but neither of those is appealing to him at this stage of his career.
Now 37, Gibson is coming off a season when he threw 169 2/3 innings and remained healthy and in the Cardinals rotation all year.
“We’re willing to be creative and we’re willing to help a team out that might be strapped (financially) and I think all teams know that,” Gibson said.
The way he felt after last season prompted Gibson’s decision to try to keep pitching, after perhaps feeling as if it might be the final year of his career, which began with the Twins organization when he was a first-round draft pick 16 years ago.
“I was content, depending on how the year went, if that was my last year,” Gibson said. “I felt really good and I felt like maybe outside of two starts I had one of my more consistent years. … I don’t want to be feeling like I’m pushing on the limit of getting outs and out there struggling to help a team just to get a couple extra months.
“That’s what’s helped my mindset right now. I’d like to play again and hopefully that situation will come up … If I physically didn’t feel good or I mentally just wasn’t there it would be a whole lot easier to walk away. But I feel like I’m at a spot right now where I can go out and help somebody win.”
One of the teams Gibson has stayed in touch with is the Cardinals, who declined to pick up the options for both he and Lance Lynn after last season. Lynn also is one of the several veterans still unsigned.
“It’s fairly clear what the Cardinals plans are here,” Gibson said. “At the moment there isn’t the space for another starter. We had a good relationship with them. I think the door will always be open there if something comes up.”
Until a team calls, Gibson is content to work out at home and spend the extra time with his wife and four kids, three daughters and a son, who range in age from 10 to two.
The oldest have noticed that they are not in Florida or Arizona right now, however, Gibson said.
“Not that they are itching to get out of here because they love snow, and their friends at school, but this is normally the one time where we get to do what you would call a vacation,” he said. “Our oldest daughter’s birthday is in March and we have never been at our home in Missouri for her birthday. That will be something different or fun, if we are still here.
“This is kind of the time that they get to go to the beach. Hopefully in due time we will be able to do that.”
Photo by the Associated Press
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