Houston Astros’ Ken Giles Thriving, Finally

After losing out on the closer role early in the season, Ken Giles is finally proving his worth with the Houston Astros.

When the Houston Astros traded for Ken Giles in the offseason, it signaled their commitment to contending after a surprising 2015 season.  With a fastball that could touch 100 mph and solid command for a young pitcher, Giles looked to be the future of the Astros bullpen.

But when Giles struggled in Spring Training, Houston opted for their closer in 2015, Luke Gregerson, to start the season finishing out games.

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Gregerson is the quintessential opposite of Giles. With a fastball nearly 10 mph slower than Giles and a reliance on ground balls, the Astros knew what they would get out of Gregerson.  After recording 31 saves last season with an ERA in the low threes, Gregerson looked poised to do the same in 2016.

In order for the Astros to keep up with the Texas Rangers, however, they’d need much more than that.  Giles struggled mightily to start the season as the team’s set-up man.  The 25-year-old gave up 10 runs in 10 innings in April, and the Astros looked to be the clear losers of their trade with Philadelphia.

May proved to be slightly better for Giles, as he gave up five runs and five walks in 11.1 innings. That still wasn’t good enough to warrant the Astros trade package to acquire him, which included Vincent Velasquez and Mark Appel.

Things calmed down for Giles in June.  High expectations from early in the season seemed to be gone, and that allowed him to thrive.  He gave up just three runs in 11.2 innings in June, while striking out 14 batters.  While he began to show improvements, he still gave up 12 hits.

Then came July, when the flames hidden within Giles fastballs suddenly burst out – and made him nearly unhittable.  Giles didn’t allow a single run to score in 8.2 innings.  More importantly, he struck out 18 batters in that span.  Giles struck out batters 58 percent of the time in July, a feat only the Aroldis Chapman‘s of the world are typically able to accomplish.

August has been more of the same for Giles, who has only given up one run this month – which is the only run he’s given up since June 18.

In just 4.2 innings pitched this month, Giles has already racked up 11 strikeouts.  His reign of dominance has earned him the closer’s position, and could boost him into the conversation of best closer in the game.

Entering July, Giles had an unsightly ERA of 4.91.  Since then, he’s lowered it to 3.69 while raising his K/9 rate to 13.79, which is a career best.

Much of Giles’ early struggles can be attributed to a mechanical flaw in his throwing motion.  Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reported that Giles developed issues with his hand placement, and therefore allowed hitters to see his fastball longer.

His mechanical issues led to an increase in home runs, as evidenced by his 0.97 HR/9 rate, a number that is nearly 70 points higher than last season.

While Giles seems to be back to his dominant ways, Corinne Landry of Fangraphs noted one flaw still evident in his approach this season.  Giles has seemingly been unable to generate ground balls, as his groundball rate has fallen from 44.8 percent last season to 36.6 percent this year.

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Although the Astros season hasn’t gone as well as they hoped, Giles’ re-emergence is a major factor as they look to make a run in September and build toward next season.