According to you, we're screwed every other day as is. In regards to actual baseball talk... don't get enamored with 100 mph fastballs. Hitters can tee of on those, regardless of how fast. A well placed 90 mph sinker is usually far more effective. Likewise, Giles is special if he executes his slider. Without that, he's above average... but won't shut down teams by any means.
That's really not what happened last night though... they couldn't not lay off his slider, minus Gordon who either has the best eye in the world (still not sure how he laid off of Gregerson's slider from the night before... which was also a strike), or he was completely fooled and wasn't going to swing on 3-2 regardless. Also not sure how many sliders he was hanging last year like the one he hung last night... can't fathom him having sub 2 ERA's with that sort of lack of execution, even with a higher WHIP.
This team is better than what they are doing, and last year, we had a team better than final record, so there is something wrong. A reliever must have 2 pitches, but Giles best pitch is the fastball, not the slider. Is not like Lidge who had a great plus slider and a very good fastball. Giles is more like Wagner, number 1 pitch was the fastball. Before last night, we did not see a plus plus slider. If Giles is going to get hit with his fastball, then yes, we are screwed IF Hinch continues to use him in the 8th or 9th with 1 run games ahead or tied. Now, after i saw that 1.20 whip i don't really like that number at all.
Last year in save situations his ERA was 2.76 and whip of 1.286 In non save situations ERA was 0.96 and whip of 1.125 Maybe he is better as an 8th inning guy? Maybe pressure on a team with high expectations is difficult for him???
Would be very surprised if our advanced analytic team didn't factor in WHIP in their decisions....but cangegrero just saw it now, and he's ready to rescind the trade, so lets call Manfred and get some failed physicals going!
It doesn't. Bad calls happen, and usually they don't have such an obvious effect on the game. You just expect them to even out down the road. Interestingly enough, Giles has a xFIP of 1.96 (lower than his 2 previous years) and a SIERA of 1.84. Every fly ball he has given up has been a HR.
Uncanny. I look forward to these early season struggles being laughed at when we look back on them in August-October (#blindoptimism #wishingandhoping)
They absolutely had to get a guy who could come in and miss bats, whether it's in the 7th, 8th or 9th inning. Time will tell. Speaking of missing bats, it's gonna be very, very interesting to see what they do with Devenski. If he's hitting 95 out of the pen along with that wipeout changeup of his (and the handful of curves I've seen him throw are very promising too), I don't see how you send him down, but I don't see where he fits in the pen once McCullers comes back. I'm assuming Fister becomes the long-guy, since he's done that as recently as last year. Does Fields still have an option year? Given their track record finding low-level talent in other orgs, I'd imagine a trade for some non-40-man A baller is a possibility.
The rush to "fix" Giles is almost as comically insane as the World Series proclamations made shortly after we acquired him... His peripherals are (mostly) OK; he's striking out a Wagner-esque 14.7 per 9. And that's Wagner at his absolute apex. Maybe he's been figured out - who knows... but the vast majority of batters he's faced are whiffing - that's encouraging and enough to continue putting him out there. Few closers are perfect.
Pretty sure a 100% HR/FB number will normalize. Especially when two of them were decent/good pitches.
If you can't keep runs off the board or the ball from flying out of the park, I'm not sure I care at how many times he gets guys to swing and miss. Lidge used to do that same thing while still blowing leads. Hopefully, it will turn around...but the peripherals are informative only...they're not dispositive. Giving up runs is. Had he had even a decent spring, he'd be the closer. The role they traded for him to be. But he wasn't...and he hasn't. I'm not interested in the Astros giving up more leads while a guy learns on the job. There's too much talent on this team otherwise to be giving up wins for that.
This is truly unbelievable. WTF was our management thinking? It is CLEAR Giles doesn't handle pressure well. Closers usually are completely opposite... struggle in non-save situations, while thriving in the clutch. Bullsh** trade from jumpstreet, just like Kazmir's history of deteriorating late in seasons. Two of the 100-loss seasons are a complete waste because we have no prospects to show for it. 2 wasted seasons
So, you're just calling it now? Not even 2 full weeks into the season? You and the other poster are just going to be real joys over the next 6 months.
Not sure why a bad spring (and start) makes people worried... while 2 full years of data of elite results don't keep people calm. I don't think he's learning on the job.
Giles threw that pitch exactly where Kratz set up and called for it. The mit didn't even move. Perez happened to hit it out of the park. On a 1-2 count he probably shouldn't have called for a slider out over the plate where Perez could get good extension. I doubt Castro would have set up for that pitch but oh well. It was one bad pitch to a good hitter. Before that Giles was looking nasty.
Actually... in 2004, Lidge struck out 14.9 per 9; in '05, 13.1. In 2006, his meltdown season, he dropped to 12.5. So, no - Lidge wasn't doing it at his peak level, and Giles, at 14.7, is striking guys out at peak Lidge rate right now. He has a 6:1 K/BB ratio - that's better than the year Billy Wagner finished 4th in Cy Young voting. Given a full season, which do you think is more likely to normalize: 7.4 HR/9 or 14.7 K/9? It's concerning, for sure - but it is still REALLY early and, with a reliever, the sample size is tiny.
I pose this question to the few that have not jumped off the ledge yet: If Castro is catching, does he frame that into a strike 3 call? Even though I cannot stand his incompetence at the plate (and am still hoping for Jonathan Lucroy trade), for some reason I think he gets call.
