I don't know what's in Hinch's head but I'm guessing the fans factor as it was a home game and Giles just blew it the day before. He didn't want Giles to be a distraction or feel the pressure from fans booing him. If he didn't think the fans were a factor I don't think he would've publicly announced that Giles wasn't closing before the game.
fans factor? not really. its more of Hinch gave giles another chance to show he can be relied upon if called. He didn't so he made the decision himself on Giles. for all the heat people try to give hinch, he apparently needs "fans" to make these decisions
Hey Now, this is the last thing I'm going to say on this subject as I'm NOT going to go back and forth with you (or anybody else on this subject). I agree with you that there may be people on here who do revel in Giles failing, HOWEVER you didn't reply to any of these other posts with your accusation, you stated it on my post, which would obviously lead me (or anyone else who read it) that I was guilty of this. As I also stated in my reply back to you......Please show me just one comment that I have ever made here on clutchfans that would show that I took glee in Giles failings. If you want to take umbrage with anyone who you think has a "ITOLDYA" mentality about this and who have made specific comments taking "glee" in his failings then by all means call them out on doing so but implying that I am one of these people again is total BS. I have been pulling for Giles the entire season, and we are NOT where we are right now without Giles contributions throughout the season. Pointing out other closers failings in the playoffs this postseason is also MISSING THE POINT. Sometimes you have to just tip your cap and give the hitter props for hitting a great pitch. It happens to every closer (even Mariano). That said, that isn't the issue with Giles. His control for the most part has been all over the place. Has he had a few positive moments in these playoffs absafreakinlutely!!! I agree it's tough to get six outs in the postseason (or even in the regular season). However Giles issues are more than that. Stating all the other people in our pen who have had issues in the playoffs again is MAKING MY POINT. Hell yes others in our pen have been struggling (Devo included). Hinch has continued to throw his guys out there even when they've had problems in the playoffs. However it was very apparent to see that his trust in Giles was starting to waver in Gm 3 when he had Harris warming up late in the game just in case Peacock got in trouble. Not Giles....our closer....who was available. Gm 4 he puts Giles in and it was very apparent to anyone watching that Giles was ALL OVER THE PLACE and more importantly his confidence was shot. We all know his results in Gm 4. It wasn't because he was asked to get six outs, or there was a long layoff from the last time he had pitched, or any other reason. So in Gm 5, where practically EVERY pitcher in both pens were thrown out there (including guys who haven't had much success in this series) Giles not only didn't pitch he wasn't even told to start warming up at any point in the game. Why is that? Our closer wasn't even put in the game in the bottom of the 9th, with a THREE RUN LEAD, and they had the bottom three in the order coming up. Pretty apparent that Hinch has lost confidence in Giles and rightfully so. Now whether or not he (Hinch) suddenly regains confidence in him tonight and puts him in there......well I guess that is Hinch's call and if he does put him out there (I can't speak for anyone else in the city of Houston), but I will stand by my original position on Giles as I stated at the very beginning of the yr, I will have concerns with the ball in his hands and even more so now given his overall body of work in the playoffs hasn't been good. I will be pulling for him as I always have because he is an Astro and I've NEVER IN MY LIFE PULLED FOR ANY ASTRO TO FAIL NOR HAVE I TOOK GLEE WHEN THEY DID. If Giles comes in and closes the Dodgers out I will be the first one on here to give the guy major props. Go Astros.
Please stop this high-horse bullshit; you proactively called out "Giles supporters/apologists/excuse makers" - you didn't intend that to be confrontational? You're going to deny it reeks of ITOLDYA!!? I mean, your post begins with a declaration of you, at least on this issue, being smarter than AJ Hinch ("Hinch FINALLY wised up"...) Great - you're rooting for Giles. Congratulations. But you're also shoving his failures in people's faces. Are you going to continue to deny this? Fine - defend including "Giles supporters/apologists/excuse makers" in your post. You weren't even responding to anybody, specifically, man.
Such a god damn whiner. You and others were trumpeting Giles's stats all season long, how he was this dominant closer. Then as soon as the playoffs started Giles fell apart and now you're here whining that people are saying I told you so. You are the cobbler of stats to try to present a player as better than they really are. Always, from Schaub to Giles. Once it all blows up in your face you attack others because they're not real fans like you. Whatever.
Giles was a top-five closer in the regular season, but after allowing runs in six of his seven postseason appearances, he appears to be buried so deep right now that he's not even in the doghouse, but sleeping out behind the fence with the feral cats. http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/...ossibilities-for-the-rest-of-the-world-series
He hasn't had a bad weekend........ or a bad series, he has been terrible for the entire post season. It has been nearly a month, and as the pressure has increased he has gotten exponentially worse. He has been scored on in 6 of his 7 games and now, he now has an era of nearly 12. I think Giles likely keeps his job, but it isn't because the Astros front office thinks he is a "good closer", but it is because at this point he has limited trade value and there are few external options through trade or free agency that would not come at a considerable cost. Having said that, the Astros are not going to cut him or trade him for pennies. He still has in theory two plus pitches. If he fails as a closer he can always be tried as setup man and have a lot of value. You will be hard pressed to find a closer that has had as bad a post season as Giles has had, and that is over a 100 year span. It isn't just "luck" or "small sample size". It is a month and he is melting down at any pressure....... the classic example is what happens when he has a 3-2 count; it will end in a walk. He lost his closing duties in the middle of the World Series. So to slip in that he is "actually a very good closer" is really stretching it because for a team that anticipates making the playoffs, having a closer that cannot handle the pressure of the playoffs has limited value.
If you want to call me out for asking where are all the Giles supporters who have POPPED OFF the entire yr about how great he has been this yr AND these same people who have POPPED OFF ALL YEAR ARE NO WHERE TO BE FOUND DURING THE ENTIRE PLAYOFFS then go ahead Hey Now. Again where the F are they Hey Now? Me asking where they are and pointing out NO MORE GILES does NOT EQUATE TO ME EVER ROOTING FOR HIM TO FAIL. That said, it appears that Hinch has "wised up" given that he didn't put him in a game where he was desperate to find anyone who could get people out. I mean isn't that the FREAKIN CLOSERS JOB???? THREE RUN LEAD IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 9TH WITH THE BOTTOM OF THE ORDER UP AND NO GILES. The title of this thread is "DO YOU TRUST GILES"? My stance has ALWAYS been no and despite that I will/and have pulled for him every single time Hinch has put the ball in his hands. Where are all the people who thought those of us that didn't trust him were crazy and that he is "NAILS"??? SCREW BEING A TOP FIVE CLOSER......OR A TOP TEN CLOSER.......OR EVEN BEING A LOWER ECHELON CLOSER. HE'S BEEN SO BAD THAT IT APPEARS THAT HE IS NO LONGER A CLOSER OR WILL EVEN ENTER A GAME MOVING FORWARD IN THE WS. Am I happy about this (or wished for this)? HELL NO AS IT HAS PUT THE TEAM IN A HUGE BIND and searching for someone who can do the job that they've asked Giles to do this yr and that's get people out. Pretty damn tough to get people out when you can't even get the ball anywhere close to the strike zone.
No one needs to tell anyone else Ken Giles has struggled in the postseason. Here's the issue... we'll likely never agree about Giles' regular season performance (primarily because posters like you are stubborn assholes) but we can at least find SOME common ground: at no point was he THIS bad. Agree? Not one single person was arguing Ken Giles, who has a career ERA of 2.43, would post an 11.74 ERA in the postseason. Not one single person was arguing Ken Giles, who gave up runs in only 12 of his 63 appearances this season (> 20%), would give up runs in 7 of his 8 postseason appearances (88%). Not one single person was arguing Ken Giles would have nearly as many 2+ ER outings (3) in the postseason as he did all year in the regular season (4). The ITOLDYA!! posts are built on a foundation of bullshit. What they're essentially arguing is that his regular season statistics were a lie. You sound foolish. And old. And not particularly smart. Why do statistics scare you so much? Math too hard?... Ken Giles posted a 2.30 ERA; struck-out 12 hitters per 9 and converted 34 of 38 saves. Since July 1, he gave up 4 earned runs in his final 32.1 IP. That's an ERA of 1.12. He struck out 44. He was flat-out dominant for three full months. The ITOLDYA!! crowd is full of absolute ****; they're broken clocks.
Uhm... hello?...... What am I?...... Reading is hard.... I added the emphasis - do you know what revel means? Here: rev·el (verb) to take great pleasure or delight Are you really going to tell me, or anyone else, that THIS isn't reveling? Get over yourself. You are absolutely, 100% reveling in his failure.
I'll tell you this...If Giles blows a save in these next two games he won't be able to live in this city without bodyguards.
Aggressive....... Passive Aggressive...... Both aggressive, just one is more annoying than the other. Im liking the more direct aggressive approach. This is a LULZ type thread now.
Watching sanctimonious posters scramble around for rationalizations after being clearly proven wrong in season long debates is literally the best reason to be on clutchfans!
Yes, thank you for that clarity. Apparently I was too vague when I said he was "having an awful postseason"....... He's having a bad month. The three months prior were next-level dominant. At the VERY least, he's good enough to close for a 100+-win team in the regular season. I'm not making excuses - this is a fact: the Yankees and Dodger are dominant offenses. NONE of our pitchers (save Verlander) have emerged unscathed (and even Verlander got touched up in game 2). He's in good company. And we don't play them 162 times next year. I agree with you; it's concerning, given the long-term expectations for this group. Here's hoping it's just been a terribly-timed rough stretch, combined with facing B2B offensive powerhouses + any potential issues with the ball (which DOES seem to be a legitimate issue). Remember, Brad Lidge had a similar postseason meltdown the last time we went to the World Series and he bounced back nicely.
Wow, a Matt Schaub level emotional breakdown. That's ugly. Hey smart guy, how about GIles has an .863 OPS off his fastball this season. How about he's a one pitch pitcher right now who can't control that pitch because the balls are slick by account of all the pitchers in this series. That's a lot better defense of your boy than this ITOLDYA stupidity. For all your stat quoting, you're quoting the wrong stats. And for the record, I called this in July. Grow up.
What is with your Matt Schaub obsession? That's what? The third time you've mentioned him in this WORLD SERIES thread. Seems reasonable....... And .339 against his slider, which is actually his out pitch. BUT... a) there may be an issue with the ball which is specifically making a slider harder to throw; b) in longer series, with more time to scout and prepare, not to mention greater exposure (because most of the games have been close), two-pitch pitchers are easier to expose. I don't even know what your arguing..... he's been bad. Maybe he's tired; maybe he's hurt; maybe he's shrinking from the pressure. I don't know. ITOLDYA!! Here, have a ribbon.
Yeah because, you know, if giles had been nails this entire post season you wouldn't be pointing that out, and telling the giles haters they were wrong...
Don't get @Hey Now! Now! started on Matt Schaub. He really loved the guy and thought he was a franchise QB that just needed a second chance.
