Huh? Mostly all his appearances will be of 1 or less inning. If last night's 1/3'd of an inning is telling all sorts of stuff.... why would you ignore a sample size 4 times greater? It seems to be mental... based on his execution/stuff in the one no-leverage situation... which is why I don't think building up false confidence in AAA is all that helpful (it wouldn't hurt though).
There is no magic formula on how you fix him. Ignoring the times he's been good isn't necessarily the answer either (which includes the last 2 full years prior to this one). Right now, they'll attempt to build up confidence in a few low leverage situations. They thought 2 of them (with one of them not really being a no-pressure out) was enough to prepare him for last night. Yes, I'll be patient with him... they have to. He's not the only problem... he wasn't even the biggest reason they lost the game last night.... and getting him right is part of the overall solution to fixing the entire team.
NICKKKKKKK! When will you start hating on Giles? I'm staying patient but this is looking pretty bad so far. I would only bring him in games that we are down runs. He needs to build some sort of confidence.
I just gave the main 4 scenarios where I'd bring him in right now... and none of them included a 8th or 9th inning save situation, or any sort of real pressure what-so-ever (unless this team is bringing him in to relieve a reliever, middle of inning, and needs a K... something he can still do). I respect the job this team has in getting him back on track... its not easy when somebody's brain is affecting their work.
My point is that those last 2 appearances were for a total of 4 outs.... it isn't as if you could tell much. Does the performance last night mean much? Somewhat when you are being crushed for the previous month. I don't think it is all mental, his fastball is not good right now.
But that simply means to ignore all good and focus on all bad? What did he do differently in the outing on Monday? What was his mental state after getting McHugh out of a jam on Tuesday? Recapture some of that and duplicate it... or throw it all out the window because it was the Twins. I agree his fastball is bad and by his own admission, his mechanics are awful. It could stem from a mental/no confidence state.
If it's a mechanics thing, why can't he work that out somewhere else? Where it's not impacting the major league team? And the fans paying dynamic pricing?
Because I don't think its solely that... or they'd never put him back in until he was fully right. My guess is he says he feels good (no injury), he says his head is right, and he just needs to get in a groove... whether or not he's right, and whether or not pitching him enough (but not in high pressure situations) is the answer, remains to be seen. Its not as if he can't be working on mechanics every single day off the mound... whatever they're seeing out of games is enough for them to put him in still. As far as what the fans have been paying to watch MLB pitching... that all went out the window thanks to the experimental 2011-2013 years. I have no idea what paying full price with expectations vs. no expectations feels like anymore.
