Happy Birthday Ken Giles

Ken Giles turns 31 today.

When the Blue Jays picked up Giles in the Roberto Osuna trade, on July 30, 2018, he came with his own baggage. We all saw the video of him hitting himself. And the Astros had sent him to the minors when he had a poor start to the 2018 season.

Of course, Osuna had his own issues that forced the Jays into making the trade, so we kind of expected getting a discounted return. Along with Giles, the Astros sent David Paulino and Hector Perez.

Paulino pitched 6.2 innings for the Jays in 2018 and then was released in August 2019. He is in the Phillies minor league system at the moment.

Perez got into one game with the Jays, last year, then was traded to the Reds last January. He is pitching in their minor league system.

In his three years with the Jays Giles had a 2.83 ERA with 38 saves (with just 1 blown save). His 38 saves put him 9th in Blue Jays history (Romano, presuming he keeps the closer job, will past him next year).

In 2019, he was injured at the trade deadline, which stopped the Jays from trying to trade him. And, of course, in 2020 he only got into 4 games, before missing the rest of the season and then had Tommy John surgery in September.

The Mariners signed Ken to a two-year, $7 million contract last winter (with a team option for a third year), knowing he wouldn’t be able to play this year. They are expecting him to be healthy for spring training next year.

In a 7 season MLB career, Giles has a 2.74 ERA in 357, with 115 saves.

When he was healthy, he was a lot of fun to watch. He was, pretty much, a sure thing in save situations. Throwing high 90’s fastballs and a pretty wicked slider, maybe he wasn’t 100 Miles Giles by the time he was with the Jays, but he still could blow a fastball by a hitter.

Happy Birthday, Ken. I hope next year we get to see you on the field.