I do think fastball command is probably the key problem, but it's interesting that his pulled FB% and HR/FB% are around league average this season. Instead he gas gotten eaten up by tons of line drives, and a pitcher's LD% against is one of he noisiest context-neutral stats out there (650 BIP before it becomes meaningful). It's like he hasn't gotten crushed (at least until last night) but he's given up a high volume of good contact, which is pretty weird way for a pitcher to struggle.
I don't like the abuser either, but Giles almost single handedly lost us the World Series last season.
He's never had fastball command. Primary problem is that he has one pitch, the slider. Without it being consistently spectacular, batters sit fastball. His decision to limit walks while batters are sitting fastball is going to cause crazy contact numbers. I'm not a pitching guru, so I don't know how easy it is to fix a slider. I just don't expect his contact stats to get to normal range without Giles being able to throw his slider more often and maintain effectiveness.
No one dislikes Ken Giles.....people just don't want him pitching for the Astros. Why? Because he is a terrible pitcher and loses games and team leads in games. That's why he gets booed. He gets laughed at because.... he punched himself in the face and cursed out the manager of the Houston Astros. However, I'm sure he is a nice guy and now the Blue Jays have a nice guy on their team. For some reason though, the Blue Jays aren't really happy about having a nice guy on their team?
My visceral dislike of Giles has to do with how he handles adversity and challenge. He deflects and blames others. He said he doesn't care about the fans and their reactions. He just is the most arrogant jerk I have seen be an astro. I am super glad he is gone. Tired of him complaining he lost the closer role when he was terrible. I could go on and on. I am extremely glad he is gone. Do I like we have a wife beater? Not really but people should get second chances if they are truly remorseful. I think it's tricky right now because of the legal matter and his lawyer is just trying to get the best deal for his client. So I hope that once this is over with he can make a public statement talk about what he has learned and then we can move on from this situation. I suspect Luhnow knows this will happen and its why he made the trade.
How was he so successful for the Phillies? Does anyone have any advanced stats on his time there compared to his time with the Astros?
Keeping up with former players isn't new and doesn't mean you're rooting against him. I do find it quite alarming there are people still defending him.. Like. In an alternate reality, Giles gives up those homers against Boston in the postseason in an Astros uniform, would the replies on Clutchfans following the game still be "he just needs help and we need to stop criticizing him" "I wish him well".
Maybe it was the fact he told our manager to "go f*** himself" and his overall attitude in the time being here? Maybe it was because we traded away good value (I know the prospects didn't pan out but we could have used them to get someone else) for him? Or maybe it was his AWFUL performance in the post season last year and then the fact he thinks he is entitled to be a closer? But good job trying to make it seem like our fans shouldn't hate him because he's not a woman beater. It's a lot easier to act high and mighty when you likely didn't watch the years where we were losing 100+ games and joined the bandwagon after we won a world series.
Have you paid any attention to Giles a 4.99 era this year and Rondon 2.35 era. Rondon has a Swing and a miss Fastball. Giles Fastball is so Flat Hitters are Ready for It. Since Giles has been traded the Bullpen as a whole during the Dodgers and Giants Series, have a Scoreless Streak of 20 innings from the Bullpen.
