Baltimore Orioles pitcher Trey Gibson is one of the fastest-rising prospects in Major League Baseball. However, the 23-year-old went undrafted in large part because he got suspended at Liberty University.
What did he do?
That is the question to which everyone would like an answer. Nobody seems to know exactly what happened in Lynchburg but it has not had an impact on his ability to succeed in MLB.
Who is Trey Gibson?
At 23 years old, Gibson currently ranks as the No. 5 prospect in the Baltimore Orioles organization as the highest-rated pitcher. There is obviously a lot of hype about his potential. Major League Baseball recently ranked him just outside of its Top 100 prospects for 2026. ESPN put him in the Top 100 at No. 46.
Gibson gets exceptional extension out of his 6-foot-5, 240-pound frame and has the power to back it up. He consistently pumps 94/95 miles per hour with his fastball, with a top speed of 98 and catches hitters off-guard with a trio of breaking balls. The right-handed pitcher uses his slider, sweeper and curveball equally. He also works in a cutter to righties and a changeup to lefties.
Such a deep arsenal makes Gibson one of the best strikeout artists in the minors.
The 2024 season saw him pitch at two levels. Gibson began the year at Low-A Delmarva with a 3.40 ERA and 81 strikeouts over 55.2 innings. He was later promoted to High-A Aberdeen with a 4.21 ERA and 37 strikeouts over 36.1 innings. It was a good year but not a great year.
2025 was the breakout season for Trey Gibson. He finished with a 1.55 ERA and an average of 11.69 strikeouts per nine innings at Double-A, which got him promoted for a second time. Although his 7.98 ERA over 29.1 innings at Triple-A was not ideal, there were flashes of ace potential.
As a result, Gibson received an invitation to spring training in 2026. He looks every bit the part.
Trey Gibson throws a bullpen at Orioles spring training
— Baltimore Banner Sports (@AllBannerSports) February 13, 2026
Gibson, 23, is the organization's top pitching prospect pic.twitter.com/2gduqYNq1U
Baltimore wants to get their young pitcher as much work as possible against its top young bats.
The Orioles hope Gibson could be a key contributor for a postseason push later in the year if not sooner. There is even an outside chance he could crack the Opening Day lineup!
Why did he get suspended at Liberty?
Okay, back to the original question. Trey Gibson was going to be drafted out of high school in 2020 but the shortening of the draft to only five rounds pushed him toward college instead.
He enrolled at Liberty University in Virginia.
Gibson recorded a 3.32 ERA over 65 innings as a freshman but he struggled as a sophomore with a 6.75 ERA over 56 innings. It was not cause for concern. It just wasn’t ideal.
This is where things get messy. Gibson did not get the opportunity to pitch for the Flames in 2023 because he was suspended and the exact reason for his suspension remains unclear.
Liberty is an evangelical Christian university. Its honor code is perhaps the most strict in the country— alongside schools like BYU, Bob Jones and Oral Roberts.
With that in mind, Gibson could’ve been suspended for something as simple as wearing shorts to class, wearing a beard, watching a PG-13 movie, hanging out with a female alone, or listening to explicit rap music. We don’t know. We won’t ever know. Schools like Liberty never reveal their secrets and the pitcher has never explained what happened.
However, but the university invited Trey Gibson to return in 2024 (before he signed with the Orioles) so whatever he did to get suspended in the first place couldn’t’ve been that bad. It’s a mystery!