2 ideal non-Jack Flaherty free agent starting pitcher targets for the Angels

2. Kyle Gibson

Of the remaining free agent starting pitchers, only Flaherty has a higher fWAR the past two seasons than Kyle Gibson. Gibson's accumulated a 4.0 fWAR in that span, only trailing fellow free agents Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Kikuchi, Max Fried, Nathan Eovaldi, Flaherty, and Nick Martinez. He is tied with Justin Verlander, and slightly eclipsed Pivetta's 3.9, Charlie Morton's 3.8, Sandoval's 3.5, and Andrew Heaney's 3.5.

The best ability is availability, a quality most Angels starters have lacked in recent years. Gibson threw 51.0 innings his rookie year back in 2013, and 67.1 innings during the 60-game season in 2020. In his 10 other professional seasons, Gibson's fewest amount of innings thrown was 147.1 in 2016. The 37-year-old is still holding up, as he threw 169.2 innings for the Cardinals last year, 192.0 for the Orioles in 2023 (his 33 starts led the National League that season), and 167.2 for the Phillies in 2022.

In theory, Detmers and Kochanowicz have higher ceilings than Gibson. In actuality, the Angels could use Gibson's higher floor next season. Neither young starter is a sure-fire rotation stalwart as of yet, and the Angels have shown a penchant this offseason for bringing more experienced ballplayers into their clubhouse. Plus, there are some clear opportunities to fix Gibson's relatively average on-field production.

The Angels could work with the veteran on elevating his four-seam and fixing its shape. Luckily enough, the two fixes usually go hand-in-hand. Much like Kochanowicz, Gibson is a sinker-baller who rarely flashes his four-seam as the shape is far from ideal. Much like Detmers, Gibson struggles getting his four-seam in the upper third of the strike zone. Gibson's four-seam has far too much cut, and it blends in too much with his actual cutter (his cutter tied with his sweeper last season as his second most-used pitch). If he can tweak his four-seam to gain more arm-side run, it would play better. As for its location, it needs to get elevated more even with its below average ride. If Gibson can consistently place the four-seam more in the upper third in two-strike counts (especially to left-handed hitters), the pitch could take hitters by surprise and the movement on it would not matter as much.

Can an old dog like Gibson learn some new tricks while still remaining as available as he has been his entire career? It would be a good bet to make for the Angels.

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