The Case for Ken Giles
Pitchers who aren't starters or closers rarely garner attention when it comes to baseball's award season. But Ken Giles has been dominant enough to get votes from National League Rookie of the Year voters this week.
It was seven years ago, so it was difficult to remember, but Kyle Kendrick said he wasn't sure where he finished in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in the fall of 2007.
He finished 5th, behind Ryan Braun (the winner), Troy Tulowitzki, Hunter Pence and Arizona outfielder Chris Young.
Kendrick was only asked about if he remembered because there's a member of the Phillies pitching staff who should garner votes when members of the Baseball Writers Association of America cast their votes this week.
Even though non-closing relief pitchers are regularly ignored (although managers have began to look at them more for All-Star nods), Ken Giles is more than deserving of attention from BBWAA voters, according to Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg.
"If he could have done it for one more month to add to it, been on that pace, to me he'd be a leading candidate," Sandberg said.
The leading candidate, at least if you read up on such things, is Mets starter Jacob deGrom. The New York righthander, who arrived in the big leagues a month earlier than Giles, in mid-May, is 9-6 with a 2.63 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 22 starts.
Beyond de Grom, it's not a strong year for rookies - nowhere near as strong as Kendrick's class of '07.
Among NL rookie hitters with at least 350 plate appearances, Arizona's David Peralta (.286, 7 home runs) has the best OPS (.766). Cincinnati's Billy Hamilton is an exciting player, but his numbers are far from perfect: .250, .292 OBP, .648 OPS, 56-for-79 in stolen base attempts.
The bet here is de Grom and Hamilton will finish 1-2 in the voting. Voters, however, must list three names on their ballots.
Giles should show up on some ballots.
Among NL rookie pitchers with at least 40 innings, Giles ranks first in ERA (1.21) and WHIP (0.78). And he's a good ways in front of his fellow rookies in both of those categories (Chicago's Neil Ramirez is second in both, with a 1.51 ERA and 1.08 WHIP).
The only rookie reliever with more strikeouts than Giles (63 Ks) is the Mets' Jeurys Familia (68). But Familia has also pitched in 30 more games than Giles.
Giles' strikeout numbers aren't just impressive when compared to fellow rookies; they're among the best among all pitchers in baseball this season.
Giles' 12.69 strikeout rate is 4th in the NL among pitchers with at least 40 innings, behind Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel - arguably the top three closers in the game. (Interestingly, fellow Phillies reliever Jake Diekman ranks 5th). Among MLB pitchers, Giles' strikeout rate ranks 12th.
Giles' strikeout-to-walk rate of 5.73 ranks 7th in the NL; among the pitchers in front of him is Cliff Lee (6.00).
"Dominant," Sandberg said of his rookie righthanded set-up man. "Not only important (to our bullpen), but he's been dominant."
When the short conversation with Kendrick came to an end on Thursday morning, he realized he was the top vote getter among pitchers in the 2007 NL R.O.Y. voting. Suddenly, the voting results he had forgotten about had become more memorable.
Perhaps Giles will be able to say the same thing in a few years.
The last Phillies player to finish among the top 3 in the R.O.Y. voting was J.A. Happ. who finished second to Florida's Chris Coghlan in 2009. Happ went 12-4 with a 2.63 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 35 games (23 starts) for the NL champion Phillies.
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