When the Phillies traded closer Ken Giles and shortstop Jonathan Arauz for five players, many Phillies fans were upset. Early in the season fans saw Giles struggle, while Vince Velasquez starred at times, Brett Oberholtzer mopped up the Phillies bullpen, Thomas Eschelman developed into a bigger prospect. Both Mark Appel and Harold Arauz also remain Phillies property. After early struggles, the Houston Astros are finally getting something out of Giles.
Astros fans were greeted by an absolutely putrid month of April from Giles. Giles put together a 9.00 earned run average in 11 games. The games included two losses and one blown save, thanks to four walks and four home runs. Those numbers are hard to shake from memory for Astros fans. But, Giles has gotten it togetehr.
In a reduced role in May, Giles got to figure it out. In 14 games, Giles blew one save, but managed to earn one in 14 appearances. He walked five, but did not give up a home run. Most of the struggles occurred in the first half of May. Then Giles became his old self.
In June, Giles took one loss and blew a save, but cut the walks down to two in 12 games pitched and his earned run average down to 2.31. Turning the calendar to July, Giles has appeared in nine games. Giles has walked two, but not allowed a home run and has not allowed so much as an earned run.
As Giles has gotten better, so have the Houston Astros. The Astros have climbed in the standings from 20-29 on May 27 to today, where they stand six games over the .500 mark at 55-49. The Astros remain in on the Wild Card race, just 2.5 games out.
The Astros closer remains All-Star righty Wil Harris as Luke Gregerson earns saves as well, but Giles makes the bullpen much, much better.
