Sam Gibbons

Sam Norman Gibbons

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 200 lb.

• Born December 12, 1993 in Geelong, Victoria Australia

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Sam Gibbons has pitched in the minors and in Australia.

Gibbons was signed by Minnesota Twins scout Howard Norsetter to a seven-year deal in July 2011. He was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA for the Melbourne Aces in the 2011-2012 Australian Baseball League, giving up 15 hits in nine innings. Making his US debut, he was 4-1 with a 2.29 ERA for the 2012 GCL Twins. Had he qualified, he would have led the Gulf Coast League in ERA. In 2012-2013, he was 2-3 with a 6.88 ERA for the Aces.

With the GCL Twins again in 2013, the 19-year-old turned in a 3-3, 1.91 campaign with only 10 walks in 42 1/3 innings. He was about six innings shy of the ERA qualifiers; had he qualified, he would have tied Joey Maher for third. In the 2013-2014 ABL, the Melbourne righty was rocked in his lone start (6 H, 3 BB, 7 R, 6 ER in 2 1/3 IP). Moving up to the Elizabethton Twins for 2014, he was was 4-5 with a 3.88 ERA. He tied for 6th in the Appalachian League in losses but also tied Alec Grosser and John Sever for second with 63 whiffs, one shy of leader Zack Littell.

In 2014-2015, the Geelong native was much better for the Aces (2-1, 1.69 in 4 starts). He was 7-4 with a 2.89 ERA for the 2015 Cedar Rapids Kernels, again with an ERA good enough to make the league's top 10 if he qualified (his 90 1/3 innings were about 25 shy). In the winter of 2015-2016, he was 0-1 with a 4.66 ERA for Melbourne.

He made the Australian national team roster for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. The team only used 7 of their 14 pitchers during the event and Gibbons was not one of them. He was part of a huge Twins contingent in the Sydney qualifying round, a sign of the team's commitment to Australia and South Africa - also on Australia were James Beresford, Todd Van Steensel, Logan Wade and Aaron Whitefield while Rowan Ebersohn and Callan Pearce were on South Africa. He was the youngest pitcher on Australia's staff, two years younger than Van Steensel (the next-youngest). Australia won a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Sources

• 2015 Twins Media Guide
• ABL bio