Better know your Blue Jays 40-man: Ken Giles

Ken Giles came to us, along with Hector Perez and David Paulino, in the Roberto Osuna trade. I had high hopes for Paulino, but he was released last summer. Perez is still in the system. He didn’t have a great season in New Hampshire, finishing with a 4.60 ERA in 121 innings. He is #28 on our top prospect list this year, dropping from 14th last year. I think his way back to the majors is through the bullpen. He’s behind a couple of dozen starting pitchers on the depth chart.

And Giles? Well, surprisingly, he’s still on the team. I figured he would be gone at the deadline this year.

Giles has been terrific in his season and a half with the Jays. He has 2.48 ERA in 2.48 games, with 37 save (putting him number 9 on our all time list) with just 1 blown save. His 15th save this year would put him 8th, but he’s got a long way to go to catch Tom Henke for the top spot at 217.

Giles is 29 now. He can be a free agent after this season. Unless there is a huge improvement in the team’s won/loss record, I’d expect him to be traded this year. But then I expected him to be traded last year.

PECOTA figures him to have a 2.61 ERA with 39 saves in 53 innings pitch. I like the idea of 39 saves but it seems pretty high to me. Giles has a career high of 34, in 2017.

There is always a theory that closers pitch better in save situations. Last season, in high leverage spots, batters hit .231/.300/.394 against him. In low leverage spots batters hit .130/.189/.203.

In save situations batters hit .228/.304/.348 against him. For the season as a whole batters hit .188/.255/.319 against him.

Giles came to us with a reputation of being a bit of a headcase, but he hasn’t had a problem with us. Maybe he has something to do with us not being under the high pressure of a pennant race but, I’m thinking, it is more likely that his reputation was overblown.