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Ken Giles 2020 Outlook: Veteran Closer Offers Underrated Production
5 years agoBlue Jays relief pitcher Ken Giles is a solid buy with a consistent track record. When viewing the K-BB% and SIERA leaderboards for 2019, you’ll find Josh Hader, Kirby Yates, Nick Anderson, Felipe Vazquez (who can be erased,) Liam Hendriks, and then Ken Giles. The 1.87 ERA was his best mark since 2015, his 2.27 FIP was ranked fourth out of qualified RPs. He was one of the few pitchers who allowed fewer home runs while enjoying the strikeout spike, lowering his HR/9 mark from 1.07 in 2018 to 0.85 while upping the strikeouts to career-best 39.9%. Interestingly enough, the 42.1% fly-ball rate was a career-high too, but he survived nevertheless. While pitching for Toronto in a division with the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays isn’t ideal, Giles has posted strong numbers and presumably has higher morale than when he “felt trapped” in Houston. The 29-year-old closer offers value as our 119th-ranked player thanks to a lagging NFBC ADP of 140 that nets you an extra round or two’s worth of profit.
