Former Southeast Missouri State player Gibson heats up with Class A Palm Beach Cardinals

On Monday, Derek Gibson recalled his excitement from one year ago when he first arrived in Florida after signing as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

After finishing his last season on the Southeast Missouri State baseball team and helping the Redhawks to the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship, Gibson had gone undrafted.

Signing with any team was a dream come true, but signing with the Cardinals was even more special for the Bonne Terre, Missouri, native.

One year removed from Southeast, it's those memories and excitement that continue to propel Gibson while he plays for the Palm Beach Cardinals, a Class A-Advanced affiliate.

"I think when you look at the here and the now, it can get tough and it can get demanding at times, but I think when it gets hard and whenever times are tough, I just think back to when this whole thing started and how bad I really wanted this, and I think that gives me the motivation and the drive to keep pushing forward through those tough times," Gibson said. "The season, it's a short window really. You've got a short opportunity to do something good. Two months from now the season's going to be over, so I'm really just doing everything I can to put together a good year and keep building that resume."

In the three weeks this season that Gibson has played with Palm Beach, he's definitely added to his resume.

He reported to spring training in March where he spent three weeks and realized his hip that he'd had offseason surgery on was not fully healed. He went through extended spring training for the next two months while he continued to rehab his hip before being called up by Palm Beach on June 2.

Entering Monday night's action, in 15 games since being called up, Gibson was batting .352. The outfielder had eight multi-hit games, doubled five times and scored five runs. Palm Beach was 32-35 and 8-8 since Gibson joined the team.

"Really, I'm just trying to take it one day at a time, and I think that's why I've been successful here -- just because I'm taking it one day at a time and I'm really locking in every single day to be the best that I can be on that day," Gibson said. "If you can do that day after day it kind of helps out, just because you compile all these good days in a row and at the end of the year those times whenever you really focused on that one day, that's what's going to build the foundation for a good season.

"And everybody wants to have a good season, but I think the key to my success has been not putting pressure on myself and just going out and playing the game I've always played and going hard every day and doing whatever I can do to help the team win. Ultimately, I'm here to help these guys win baseball games and, really, I think the focus and preparation has gotten me through these last three weeks."

Gibson spent last summer playing for the Gulf Coast League Cardinals, where he hit .301 before being promoted to Palm Beach for two games following the GCL season.

He felt his preparation from the Redhawks coaching staff during his collegiate career put him in good position at the start of his professional career, and he's been able to focus and pick up on more specific parts of the game.

"There's a lot of different things -- pitch selection and your approach at the plate and just really fine details that nobody would ever think about," Gibson said. "Once you get to this level, you play the game so much and you play every single day you just kind of naturally pick up on those small, fine details. And I think that's been probably the biggest change from SEMO to here is just really trying to take the game to the next level as far as details and the little things, because the little things are what really count here."

His biggest adjustment has been the schedule. After growing accustomed to three-day weekend series and Tuesday midweek games with two days off each week during college, he's had to get used to the routine of traveling and playing nearly every day of the week.

"It's kind of nice because you have a chance to breathe and catch your breathe and kind of regroup from game to game, but when you're in the pros you're playing every single day, so if you have a bad game, you've got to figure it out that night and you've got to get back up the next morning and be ready to go," Gibson said.

Regardless of the challenges, he tries to keep everything in perspective and remember how fortunate he is to have a shot at a professional career.

"It's a really tough business," Gibson. "It's very cutthroat, and it's kind of one of those things where if you perform, you stay, and if you don't perform, you're going to be sent home. I'm just doing everything I can to be the best player I can be every single day and just keep moving forward in the system, and it's been a heck of a ride, that's for sure."