As long as the San Francisco Giants bullpen continues to falter, reinforcements are going to be brought in.
That happened again on Monday, when SF signed former closer Ken Giles to a minor league contract. Giles, 31, was most recently in the Mariners organization but elected to become a free agent after he was designated for assignment last week.
When healthy, Giles is one of the better relievers in Major League Baseball, but injuries have kept him mostly off the field since 2019. Traditionally a hard thrower, Giles fastball was averaging just a tick under 97 mph ’19 with the Blue Jays, where he also posted a very impressive 1.87 ERA in 53 appearances.
Since then Giles has only made nine major league appearances after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2020. The Mariners signed him to a two-year deal hoping he would be ready to go by the beginning of this season, but other injuries kept him off the mound. When he did pitch his fastball velocity was down to averaging 94 mph.
The Giants are banking on the right-hander’s long track record of being a solid reliever when healthy. In eight seasons with the Phillies, Astros, Blue Jays and Mariners, Giles has posted a 2.71 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
