Gipson-Long feels ready, mentally and physically.
“I feel fresh, and I feel like I didn’t lose anything,” he said. “A lot of the stuff that I had before, we had been working on, and I kind of maximized a lot of my pitches and usages, and I knew what to do. So, there wasn’t a lot that I needed to improve on. It was really just getting healthy.
“I feel like I had the time, too, to work on some smaller things that I might have missed, like throwing pitches to optimal locations or getting the velocity on a pitch higher. But I had all the shapes, and I had the foundation already, so it was pretty easy to build on that and maybe try to add something new.”
For those needing a refresher, Gipson-Long is not an overpowering power thrower; his four-seam fastball averaged 93.6 mph during his September stint in 2023, and averaged the same during his last rehab start for Triple-A Toledo on Thursday. But he can throw a variety at hitters, including a changeup that had a 50 percent whiff rate during his '23 stint, a slider with a solid spin rate and a sinker that hitters pound into the ground for quick outs.
Gipson-Long was learning how to put that arsenal to work against big league hitters when the elbow injury interrupted his career. He underwent hip surgery while he was dealing with the elbow rehab to address another concern. Now, he gets to pick up where he left off.
“I think he’s learning how to pitch at this level and learning how to use his weapons,” manager A.J. Hinch said on Sunday. “We’ve got to continue to push him [to throw] strike one, we’ve got to continue to push him to use his full arsenal. Left-handed hitters become really important for him. He’s done a nice job getting himself back into a competitive mindset as opposed to rehabbing.”
That process, Gipson-Long said, was a big part of his five-start rehab assignment.
“The hardest part was getting my pitches over the plate and missing more over the plate instead of them being so wild,” he said. “So, the first few outings and bullpens, I would say my misses were a little more extreme, maybe a little more off the plate, lower, higher. And now it’s like if I do miss, it’s way more of a competitive miss.”
If he can effectively fill Jobe’s rotation spot, it’ll be not only a triumphant return but a timely one.
