Ahead of debut, Gibson gets initial look at home park

MINNEAPOLIS -- While he won't make his Major League debut until Saturday, Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson got his first taste of Target Field on Thursday in Minnesota's clubhouse.

The Twins called Gibson up from Triple-A Sunday night after they optioned Pedro Hernandez, who filled in for Mike Pelfrey on Sunday after he was placed on the disabled list with a sore back. While Gibson wasn't scheduled to start until Saturday, he has spent the entire week the team and getting used to his new teammates.

"I just got told Sunday night that I was coming up on the off-day," Gibson said. "I was pretty excited and thankful honestly, because the last couple days have been really good -- just kind of getting acclimated, not having to rush around and getting your gear ready. And making sure family can get up here and get organized."

Gibson -- rated as the Twins' No. 4 prospect according to MLB.com -- threw an extended bullpen session Wednesday, followed with a shorter one Thursday in an effort to acclimate to the mound and his new home stadium.

"Thankfully it's not the first big league stadium I've played in," Gibson said. "It's cool to be able to walk out there and just look around and soak it all in. And imagine how it's going to be when there's a lot of people there, but I'm sure on Saturday it's going to be a little different."

Minnesota kept Gibson in Rochester longer than maybe some fans wanted, but the club wanted him to be find some consistency. In his 15 starts with the Red Wings, Gibson went 7-5 with a 3.01 ERA over 92 2/3 innings.

"I think it's always a constant battle," Gibson said of finding consistency. "Maybe in the last 10 games I can say that I've found that, but I think being consistent and constant consistency on the Major League level is going to be a different thing."

Gibson will debut Saturday afternoon opposite Royals right-hander Ervin Santana.