If the ninth inning is tied in a home game, a team's option for closer is not pitching him, pitching him in a tied situation, or bringing him into an inning another pitcher has given up runs already. That said, I'm guessing Astros go closer by committee based on match ups until around the deadline.
Last night, when the 9th started, I looked over at my wife and said he is going to give up a HR. I do not like Giles on back-to-back days going against the best hitters in the Yankees lineup.
I switched my watching to a new Homeland episode after the 8th ended. I knew Giles was pitching the ninth. Best decision of the day.
Yes, fully aware of what teams can do in that situation... just not going to pigeon hole the Astros, or any forward thinking organization, that they have to do the same thing every time. He had just been used the night before. He has a history of struggling in tie game 9th inning situations. All other arms were available. He may not have been quite mentally back after just one high leverage situation. I would have favored using Peacock or McHugh... and if the game goes into extras, you have the option to leave them in.
Last year really didn't have that yo-yo effect for a big stretch... till the playoffs. On the one hand, he's shown the ability to bounce back after being horrid to have good games and be an important contributor. On the other hand, you sorta wish that he may one day be fully mentally ruined so you can move on. But unfortunately (or fortunately?) he bounces back as you mentioned. He has limited trade value. He's also going to get a big raise, regardless of struggles, provided he's simply healthy. He's a candidate to be non-tendered if he can't turn it around or the Astros can't salvage prospects for him.
I agree with your statement here except I would add that Giles should be completely removed from high leverage situations until he shows he can get back to pitching well.
What id like to know is what other pitchers about his age, with similar backgrounds, how it has turned historically. How many of them go on to be dominate later? Serviceable? Or never recover?
Which is what they basically did. Which led to the 7 scoreless appearances and 21 consecutive batters retired... which culminated in Monday night's excellent performance... which then led to using him Tuesday night and seeing a debacle. They may need to Costanza him... teach Hinch how to leave him on a high note.... and oscillate him back to low leverage situations for a little bit after he dominates. I have no clue.
What happened to not changing something that was working? Its as though there is some pressure on Hinch to force Giles into the closer role. Mold him into what we need him to be rather than what he really is. Or rather, let him settle into a specific role where he is successful and keep him there. That is what we preach about other players and situations, isn't it?
He wouldnt do well as a setup guy either. Did you guys already forget just last year when he came into non-save situations and got murdered? His main defenders were on here arguing, "its different when theres no pressure. It has to be a high leverage, high pressure situation for him to succeed.". Contradiction- LULZ
I dont really follow the guy, so I wouldnt know. High pressure, low pressure, the guy cant seem to control his fastball and his slider has gone to chit, it doesnt matter what pressure hes in.
It maybe the case that some folks are looking for any reason to vindicate him, either because what we gave up for him and/or the expectations we had for him. Despite looking for evidence to the contrary, I found Giles was more than serviceable as the closer during the 2017 regular season (as a whole). We know what happened after that. And here we are this year, still wondering which Giles we going to get this year.
Because when he's on, he's the best candidate out of the bullpen to get strikeouts and close games. When he's off, he's worthless. If he wasn't on Monday, not sure the Astros had a backup candidate to close having already used Peacock/Devenski with both giving up baserunners... but he was on. They're going to continue to do this by committee.... which still will include him after he again gets through low leverage situations. The change may be after another good game in higher leverage, he goes back to being shelved for a little bit.
No, he pitched yesterday in one. He had no business pitching in a high leverage situation without at least one above average pitch. He's been depending on hitters hitting it at defenders this year as he's not getting Ks or weak contact. One game with Ks should not justify him in tight situations and probably should not have been in that game either.
And yet the pitch was on that day he shouldn't have been in there.... when it was most unlikely to have been on (one run game, heart of the lineup, contending opponent) Clearly its part mental. Clearly he gets motivated by demotion and has these spurts. Then he breaks down. Its not consistent... till they find the stretch he put together last year... till that stops. Its such a mixed bag, you'd wish he'd fail for good and be completely done.
It went a little faster because he was well rested. You can have a slider that moves horizontally out of the swing plane. You can have a slider that dips beneath the swing plane. Having a slider that moves diagonally practically in the same swing plane as the fastball is drinking Jobu's rum bad. The hitter missing it is on the hitter and not an indication that it is on. I do think he was in there as Hinch is hoping that confidence will fix whatever is causing his slider not to move like it normally does. Giles is still getting spin on the slider, it just isn't on the same axis.
I think the problem is alternatives. They don't seem to trust Peacock right now. They seem to value Devo's flexibility (and was elite against lefties last year, so they might want to maximize that leverage). Harris has failed anytime he's been put in that role. I'd be curious about McHugh. He's been amazingly dominant thus far - not sure if it's fluke or something has changed. But he's mostly used in mop up duty and I wonder when/if they push him into the higher leverage roles, which then gives them more flexibility with Peacock/Devo/Harris.
