Cole Gibler is a 2024 Draft prospect who as of now I see as the best prep pitching prospect in the Midwest despite not getting the amount of buzz that would usually come along with that. I’ve had multiple live looks at Gibler now, both in-game and in a showcase setting so I wanted to dive a little deeper on him with this post.
Height: | 6’2 |
Weight: | 205 |
DOB: | 10/10/2005 |
High School: | Blue Springs (Missouri) |
College Commitment: | Arkansas |
Before I get into breaking down Gibler’s pitch-mix, I want to provide a breakdown of his delivery and arm action that reflects my most recent look at him:
Delivery: | Rhythmic NWU, high leg lift, average length online stride. Foot strike at 45-degrees, above-avg hip/shoulder separation. Still head, controls body/center of mass well throughout, balanced finish. |
Arm Action: | H 3/4 slot- Medium circle with clean path, and no major hindrances. Fluid. |
Gibler has a three pitch mix with his four-seam FB, curveball, and changeup. All of which have taken a giant leap over the past year while continuing to maintain his advanced feel over his arsenal. I’ll let Gibler introduce to you his arsenal as he warms up for his appearance at last summer’s Midwest Scouts Association game along with another video from a behind view of his most recent bullpen session so you can see his arm action better:
Since this past summer, Gibler has added what I’d guess is 10-20 pounds of ‘good’ weight/strength to his frame, and that has already resulted in a significant velocity jump going from sitting 90-92 during the summer of 2023, to sitting 92-96 which I witnessed last weekend at the KC Premier Pro Day Showcase. With all that being said, Gibler’s frame still has room for additional weight/strength in future years.
Gibler primarily leans on his four-seamer (93-96 mph) that shows above-average carry through the zone, and flashes late running action at times as well, but it’s a heater I’d definitely label being a life over movement one. Gibler shows advanced feel for the control of the offering, while the command at present is inconsistent. I’ve seen him flash precision ability to multiple quadrants of the zone so I’m confident it’s in there, but I’ve also seen him frequently live middle-middle with the fastball.
Below are a few of Gibler’s fastballs against both RH and LH batters. You’ll see the solid carry he has on the heater and on one the fastballs especially, you’ll see the running action I mentioned he flashes as well:
Gibler has also shown advanced feel for his curveball (82-84 mph) that typically shows deep 1/7 shape, but will also flash 12/6. He’s capable of flashing plus tightness and bite and beating hitters both in and out of the zone with the breaking ball. It’s very apparent he’s comfortable throwing the pitch in any count and does a good job of throwing it with conviction regularly.
This next video showcases some of Gibler’s curveballs in an outing from last summer:
The offering that has taken the largest step forward for Gibler since my last look at him is his changeup (89-91 mph). In my most recent game-action look at Gibler he threw the changeup with good arm speed and was able to land it in the zone, but it showed minimal action overall and I wasn’t confident it’d have more use than a “show-me” offering in the future. This past weekend when I saw him throw a bullpen, he was throwing a power changeup ranging from 89-91, several of which showed late bottom action capable of slipping under bats, and an offering I’m now confident will at least be an average offering for him.
The video below will show some of Gibler’s changeups from game-action this past summer as well as a few from the recent bullpen I saw. The video from the recent bullpen is sometimes tough to follow the full ball path, but I think it illustrates what I’m saying enough:
As of this writing, Gibler will enter the 2024 high school season as my top prep pitching prospect in the Central Plains.
Tool: | Future: |
Fastball (overall): | 55 |
Curveball: | 60 |
Changeup: | 50 |
Control: | 50 |
Deception: | 50 |
Delivery: | 60 |
Arm Action: | 50 |