Heading into the 2026 season, few prospects in the Baltimore Orioles’ system have drawn more attention than right-hander Trey Gibson.
His ascent has hardly been linear, but after a breakthrough 2025 campaign, Gibson has forced his way into the organization’s pitching conversation. But the road that carried him here has been anything but conventional.
Gibson graduated from Grafton High School in 2020 under unusual circumstances. Many evaluators believed he had a legitimate chance to be selected in that year’s draft, but the event was reduced to just five rounds due to the pandemic, limiting opportunities for high school arms. Instead, Gibson honored his commitment to Liberty University and entered college with something to prove.
In 2021, Gibson made 13 starts and posted a 3.32 ERA across 65 innings, allowing 51 hits and 24 earned runs while walking 21 and striking out 70. One particularly telling statistic underscored his ability to limit damage: Gibson surrendered just 13 extra-base hits all season — every one of them doubles.
He was named Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the Year and earned Freshman All-American honors from Perfect Game, sharing that distinction with future teammate Enrique Bradfield Jr.
His sophomore season in 2022, however, marked a sharp regression. Gibson appeared in 16 games, making 15 starts, and logged a 6.75 ERA over 56 innings. He allowed 42 earned runs, walked 30 and struck out 72.
After carrying a 3.66 ERA through his first five outings, inconsistency set in. Over his final 11 appearances that season, he allowed three or more earned runs six times and frequently struggled to work beyond the fourth inning. The command and efficiency that defined his freshman year wavered.
Gibson did not pitch his junior season at Liberty after being suspended by the university for an undisclosed reason. He instead took the mound in the Cape Cod League with the Chatham Anglers, but the summer offered little reprieve. Over 29 innings, he posted a 10.24 ERA, walking 21 and striking out 27 as control issues persisted.
Gibson went undrafted in 2023, yet the Orioles saw enough to offer him a professional opportunity, signing him in August. He made a brief professional debut that year, throwing two scoreless innings for the organization’s Florida Complex League affiliate.
The 2024 season provided the first signs of stabilization. Gibson opened with Low-A Delmarva and recorded a 3.40 ERA across 55.2 innings, holding opponents to a .200 average while striking out 81 and walking 24.
The Orioles promoted him to High-A Aberdeen in July, where the transition proved more challenging. In 36.1 innings, he posted a 4.21 ERA, allowing 21 earned runs — nearly matching the 17 he had surrendered in 20 more innings with Delmarva — while his opponents’ batting average climbed to .244. The swing-and-miss ability remained, but the margin for error narrowed.
If 2024 hinted at progress, 2025 delivered a turning point. Gibson began the year back in Aberdeen and endured another uneven stretch, compiling a 5.12 ERA over 38.2 innings. By early June, his trajectory felt uncertain.
Then came a promotion to Double-A Chesapeake in June — and with it, a transformation. Over 10 starts, Gibson dominated, posting a 1.55 ERA in 52.1 innings. He allowed just nine earned runs, walked 18, struck out 68 and limited opponents to a .157 average. He also recorded his first professional complete game and shutout.
The late-season move to Triple-A Norfolk was more turbulent — a 7.98 ERA in seven starts — but the body of work was enough for the organization to name him the Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
That performance earned Gibson a non-roster invitation to major league camp in 2026, his first exposure to big-league spring competition. He impressed in his debut, tossing three innings against the New York Yankees on Feb. 20, allowing two hits while striking out three and earning a save.
Six days later, he encountered adversity against a young Detroit Tigers lineup, yielding three earned runs on two home runs over 2.2 innings while striking out two. The flashes and the growing pains arrived in equal measure, a fitting encapsulation of his career to date.
Gibson enters 2026 as one of the Orioles’ more intriguing pitching prospects — a right-hander who has navigated turbulence at nearly every stage yet continues to resurface with renewed momentum.
Given the volatility of a major league season, it would be no surprise to see him factor into Baltimore’s plans, whether as a spot starter, a 27th man in a doubleheader or an arm summoned when opportunity meets need.
For now, he is firmly on the radar, a once-overlooked talent who has made himself impossible to ignore.
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