Let's allow this to happen a little more organically. That was some top shelf filth last night no doubt about it, and he's looking better. But we still haven't seen him start an inning protecting a lead with any regularity. Maybe time for Harris to get a look, try a committee approach.
Lmao . You and I both know if Giles returns to closing and then for whatever reason blows a game there will be full blown riots . Greg deserves a chance to right the ship .
Giles won't be the guy just yet... but Gregerson has now cost the Astros more potential wins than Giles has (I suppose he can thank the team for bailing him out twice in extra innings now). Gregerson deserves nothing if he can't protect 1 run leads in the 9th. Its basically his only job.
Giles still needs time to learn the signs from the catcher, lol. His slider that was supposed to be a fastball (still called a strike) could have cost us the damn game due to a passed ball. But DAMN he was filthy last night though. THAT'S what we traded for. Those hitters had no chance at all.
Ended up being the better pitch to throw.... batter saw the pitch at eye level and decided not to swing, and it broke into the zone. If he was looking middle-in fastball (which is what Castro was presumably expecting), that could have been a disaster as well.
1) Gregerson's opportunity to right the ship came last night. His last game was a blown save, he has a full day off, and then he comes in and blows another one. If we are in true "must win these games" mode, then it's time for someone else to get a chance. 2) If Giles is the guy they decide to go with, the Harris should be the set up man. 3) I wouldn't be opposed to Harris getting the chance either. He's been very consistent this season, and it would provide an opportunity to give Giles more responsibility by possibly making him the 8th inning guy.
AJ needs to stop being so loyal and hold these guys accountable. If you can't close, then someone else will.
Everyone knows there was a need to upgrade the closer position. That is why Giles was acquired. Things didn't work out as well since Giles couldn't outplay Gregerson. The need to upgrade from Gregerson as the closer hasn't gone away. At this point, from what we know, Giles is a downgrade.
You can't talk in absolutes like that about Giles. It's a small timeframe. This is baseball. Let me enlighten you a bit. He's had a history of minor back issues/ problems with his mechanics. And it's happened at the beginning of the year, just like now. Expect him to be nails, for the most part from here on in. Did you not see his stuff/location/velocity ? This is what we traded for.
I usually like to let your threads get going before I post anything but I agree with you on this one 100% We can't have a bunch of soft throwing starting pitchers AND a sensitive softball throwing closer. That dramatic change of speed and overall dominant stuff in the closer position is desperately needed - if not Giles, then Harris. We need LMJ to come back strong in the rotation.
Absolutes? I said "for now". It's too early to push him to be closer now because, like you said, it's a small time frame that he's pitched well. He lost the battle to Gregerson fair and square. He's going to have to fight to get it back. You're saying he should be closer NOW is just ridiculous.
Why is it ridiculous? Gregerson has BLOWN three out of the last four save attempts he's gotten. Sounds like he lost the job fair and square. Giles hasn't given up a run in his last 5 appearances, giving up 2 hits, 1 walk and 5Ks in those spots. I'm ready to turn it over to Giles -- he's clearly the most talented reliever we have. I agreed with Hinch's decision to stick with Gregerson as Giles struggled -- and boy did he -- but now that he's righted the ship and Gregerson has imploded, I don't find it "ridiculous" at all to go back to Giles.
All that and he still has an ERA of 6.89. Funny you picked his last 5 starts since his previous start before then he gave up 2 runs in 0.1 innings. I can also pick 5 appearances where Luke allowed only 2 runs; and Luke's appearances are whole innings not like Giles who comes in for 1 or 2 outs a lot of times.
I would hope that you are smart enough not to quote ERA when talking about relievers. Especially considering how bad Giles struggled and how he looks now vs. then. If Luke blew 1/4 saves, I would be in complete agreement with you -- he deserves to stick as closer. But blowing 3 out of the last 4? No. We aren't in a position to keep trotting him out there right now when every game is important to us getting back in the race. How do you not see that?
