Top Kyle Gibson Rangers' moments following pitcher's unexpected retirement

A fixture in the Texas Rangers' early 2020s pitching rotation surprised people around Major League Baseball on Thursday when the right-hander announced his retirement from baseball.

Gibson, 37, pitched his last game in MLB on May 17 with the Orioles. In his 13-year big league career, he appeared in 334 games for the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals.

He finished one win above the .500 mark at 112-111 with a 4,68 ERA, 1,520 strikeouts and a 14.6 career WAR. Even though he only played 31 games for the Rangers in 2020 and 2021, Gibson had one of the best stint of his career and earned his only All-Star honor.

3 great Kyle Gibson moments as a Texas Ranger

09/16/2020: Complete game shutout against Astros

In his 10th start during the shortened COVID-19 season, the right-hander threw a gem of a complete game shutout against in-state division rival Houston Astros.

Mowing through a lineup of George Springer, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Carlos Correa, Gibson threw 114 pitches across nine full innings. He struck out nine batters and only surrendered four hits among the 32 batters faced.

While Texas finished 22-38 that year, Gibson's September 16 start at Minute Maid Park is something to marvel at as we look back at his career.

06/26/2021: 7 inning, 10-strikeout outing against Royals

Another impressive outing with Texas, Gibson's seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts improved his season's record to 6-0 at the time and his ERA moved 2.00 on the year.

Among his 23 batters faced, Gibson struck out Ryan O'Hearn three times, Salvador Perez twice, Jarrod Dyson twice and fanned five other players once. It was at that time I feel reinforced his All-Star selection.

While Texas might not have been on top of the baseball world during Gibson's time with Texas, his consistent performance every five games made it a fun team to watch.

07/13/2021: Gibson's first and only All-Star Game appearance

After a miraculous first-half of the season, Gibson was selected as a member of the American League All-Star Game for the first time in his career.

In his 19 starts with Texas that year, he posted a 6-3 record with a 2.87 ERA, 94 strikeouts, 41 walks and 1.17 WHIP in 119 innings of work. He was then traded to the Phillies following that season's trade deadline. At the start of July, Gibson led the AL with a 1.98 ERA.

He pitched one inning of shutout ball in the 2021 All-Star Game at Coors Field and earned a hold in a 5-2 American League win.