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Former Springfield lefty moves up in minors
By Joe Scalzo
After batting practice on Monday, Bristol White Sox manager Pete Rose Jr. pulled Todd Kibby aside and told him, “We’ve made the decision not to start you tomorrow.”
“I was like, ‘Why? It’s our last game of the year. I’m ready to go,’” said Kibby, a Springfield High graduate.
“Well,” Rose told him, “you’re starting at [Class-A] Kannapolis [N.C.] on Thursday. That’s why you’re not starting tomorrow.”
It was the first promotion of Kibby’s minor league career after spending his first two seasons in the Rookie Appalachian League.
The only downside was having to tell his mom he wasn’t going to be home this week.
She took it well.
“I’m pretty sure she screamed and ran around the house for a little bit,” he said, chuckling.
Kibby (6-4, 240) was a 37th-round draft pick out of St. Petersburg Junior College in 2011. After splitting time between the bullpen and the rotation last summer, the left-hander moved to the Bristol rotation full-time this year, going 5-4 with a 2.79 ERA in 11 games.
More impressive, he struck out 69 in 71 innings and lasted at least five innings in all but one start. In his last outing, Thursday, he pitched eight shutout innings, giving up three hits and four walks with six strikeouts.
“They told me to just keep doing what I’ve been doing,” said Kibby, who was originally scheduled to pitch in the White Sox’s instructional league, which begins in mid-September. “I got here by throwing strikes, and they told me to keep doing that and I’ll be out of here soon.
“I focus on getting first-pitch strikes. It’s a lot harder to hit when you’re behind in the count. I focus on strike one and go from there.”
He took the same approach off the field. Every minor leaguer is trying to balance the game with his desire to get promoted, but Kibby said he learned from his high school coaches to keep his emotions inside and focus on one goal: his next start.
“The day I throw, all I worry about is that game,” said Kibby, who turns 22 on Friday. “That outing. That pitch. Just ignore everything else.
“As soon as I step on that mound, I put everything I have into that game.”