Kudos to him because there was no way to go but up for him coming out of spring training and April. I still don't feel confident with him with under a 2 run lead going into the 9th like I did prime Wagner and Lidge.
As long as you beat up on STL, we'll have common ground here in Houston. :grin: I think any of BOS/CLE/TOR could give CHC/WAS/LAD a run for their money, but yeah, top of NL is better than the top of the AL this year. Very excited to see October play out. I'm still pissed that we got Giles instead of Chapman, but it is what it is.
Well, the next time he blows a one run save will be the first time. April was awhile ago. This is now 3+ months of good stuff. Compared to how the other "closers" fared this year, he's been quite refreshing.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> <a href="https://t.co/5O7Kj0RrVu">pic.twitter.com/5O7Kj0RrVu</a></p>— PDS (@PatDStat) <a href="https://twitter.com/PatDStat/status/774699998306938880">September 10, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
St. Louis once again looks scary with their bats. Their pitching isn't great, but I would say their offense is up there with the best teams in the NL. They'll always be a tough out for anyone if they do indeed make it. I would agree anyone can beat anyone. It'll be interesting in October. Giles is pretty good, I had him in on my fantasy team after someone dropped him initially for the terrible start he had. Still young and controllable for many years. Chapman could leave this offseason, so it's a risk to trade farm talent and then come up empty in October.
I mean, sure.... on paper that seems like it would make sense. I just think the playoffs are largely a random crapshoot regardless of overall regular season results. Teams on a roll could stay on a roll or could get dominated by elite pitching. Teams that are limping could simply get a couple of balls to find some holes and a timely XBH.... or dominant pitching takes over. Health is a must... along with starting pitching in a good groove. Getting that lined up outweighs going in on a roll or having momentum (that's only about as good as the next day's starting pitcher).
huge win! was watching but not able to post til now.. really fun stuff. Giles has the intensity--that is for certain
I agree that they are a crap shoot and that regular season doesn't matter. But you still want to your bats to be hitting and not slumping going in. It's already tough to find runs in the postseason. Yeah you definitely want the SP to be themselves going in too. Not saying you necessarily have to be on a winning streak. Just having your players play the way they've played all season. Best time for that is usually the last two weeks.
Like any playoff game, you load the odds in your favor, and hope the other guy doesn't go into the zone. And it generally works out. Right now the odds aren't in our favor, so we need guys in the zone and in ryhthm to come out on top.
Fixed for truth...... Giles blew one earlier this season. Maybe you're thinking he hasn't lost one yet. Glad he finished it today. Great, much needed win.
Not a one run save, he didn't. Blew a 2 run save against the Reds by giving up the 2-strike/2-out 2 run HR that tied it, well prior to him being named the full time closer. That was his only 9th inning blown save. TBH, people's first impressions of him in April are badly (and wrongly) clouding their overall opinion... I mean, people are still honestly bringing up spring freaking training. He's apparently being held to a standard of excellence that usually is reserved for HOF/all-time great closers, despite being (by far) the best closer the Astros have utilized all season.
Okay, you meant first blown *since being named closer*. "Best Astros closer" is only relative to what we've had, similar to Schaub being the best Texans QB. I'm glad Giles has improved after his horrible April and his bad initial performance in 9th inning situations.
No, I meant exactly what I said... he has yet to blow a one run save opportunity. And if you want to go ahead and compare him to other closers this year, be my guest... he's actually going to compare quite well. He's also already matched his K total from last year in 9 less games, which again was one of the biggest weaknesses of this bullpen coming off last season.
Since he's taken over closer (Aug 9th), he's surrendered runs in 6 of 12 appearances. Can you really blame someone for not having full confidence in him during 1-runners? The fact he blew a 2-runner vs CIN doesn't help. I'm just glad he's trending upward.
Apparently I don't because you said this: No, I meant exactly what I said... he has yet to blow a one run save opportunity You didn't qualify it with "9th inning" or anything else.
He's 3 for 3 in 9th inning one run save opportunities... That exceeds your sample size when you were calling him a failure after 2 save opportunities. If he saves his best for when he has zero margin for error, so be it. The hyperscrutiny with him is funny.
