Blue Jays closer Ken Giles left today’s game with what the team described as right elbow soreness. Called in to preserve a 4-2 Toronto lead in the ninth inning, Giles retired the first two Rays batters he faced before allowing a Joey Wendle double and then two walks, and was then removed from the game. In a post-game chat with Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi and other reporters, Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said Giles would undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the problem.
Any elbow issue is a bad sign for a pitcher, of course, and Giles’ injury could be particularly troublesome given that he was bothered by that same elbow last season. Montoyo didn’t know whether Giles’ current problems were similar to his inflammation issues in 2019, which included an minimal IL stint in June and then a cortisone shot in late July that didn’t lead to a shutdown or another injured list placement, though the timing likely prevented Toronto from dealing Giles to a playoff contender.
Trade speculation continued to swirl around Giles heading into the offseason, and though that talk seemed to diminish once the Jays made some moves (i.e. the Hyun Jin Ryu signing) indicating a push towards contention in 2020, he certainly still stood out as a potential trade candidate if the club fell out of a postseason race. Of course, between the expanded playoff structure and the new August 31 trade deadline, it is hard to know if the Jays will consider themselves true sellers in any scenario besides a total collapse over the next few weeks of play.
A potential injury not only hurts Giles’ trade value and the Blue Jays’ chances of contending, but it also hurts his market value as the closer heads into free agency this winter. Despite his elbow concerns in 2019, Giles still enjoyed an outstanding season, posting a 1.87 ERA, 4.88 K/BB rate, and 14.1 K/9 rate over 53 innings in his first full season with Toronto.
The way these players are going down these last few days, we won’t have to worry about the season getting cancelled due to COVID-19. There won’t be anyone left for COVID-19 to end the season.
Well..this may solve the issue of whether to keep or trade Giles. Obviously in the worst way possible.
For your fantasy teams — grab RP Anthony Bass
Why are you still reading this?
You sure it’s not Dolis? Generated a lot of buzz pre-season. And was a closer in Japan last 3 years.
He has put a few men on base in his 1st two appearances, granted I didn’t see either live. What about yamaguchi?
Could be either one, if not the dreaded CBC (closer-by-committee). I picked Bass based on more publications naming him, but it could go any way.
Yamaguchi is not adjusting to American baseball well, apparently he’s having issues gripping the MLB baseballs for his breaking balls.
Well Dolis would need to throw some clean outings first. His first 2 appearances have been anything but clean.
I believe it to be Bass, and that would likely be the easiest answer. I think Dolis and Romero will be flipped sooner rather than later. Dolis hasn’t looked sharp in his two innings of work and Yamaguchi, looked shaken throughout the camps and today’s game.
I think Romano has the best stuff in the pen right now. This bullpen is going to be an issue especially without Giles.
Dolis likes to walk the tightrope.
I don’t think anybody wants to hear this, but what if the Jays had an elite multi-inning shutdown reliever. Nate Pearson might possibly be more valuable to this team in a shortened season as an ace relief pitcher. Think about it, if he’s on the team against the Rays(depending how Montoyo deployed him) Toronto wins 2 if not 3 games this weekend. Wouldn’t that be more valuable then him pitching say 6 innings 1 ER and 10 Ks as a starter and then having the game blown in the 7 or 8th. I’m dying to see the Nate start as much as anyone, I’ve been watching the kid for 3 years but if we are trying to compete, taking a 2-3 run lead into the eighth, especially without Giles, isn’t very safe, it doesn’t matter how good your starter is if your team can’t close games (unless you have Roy Halladays mentality and complete half your starts).
It’s not going to happen, I’m just saying with our SP depth. We could probably win a lot more games if we had a guy who could go 1-3 shutdown innings a few times a week. Instead of 5-6 innings 10 times this season.
Call up Borucki, have him start and make Thornton the guy. Rotation of Ryu, Roark, Borucki, Pearson, Shoemaker. Kay and Thornton go long.
Montoya needs to understand that with expanded rosters and a hiccup with preparation he needs to have a quick hook. Need guys ready to stretch their outings.
I’ll grab Covid, 2020 season winner
Have the Jays waited too long to trade another star?
Can’t trade an injured player, bruv
Which would be why they waited to long.
Yes. If he pitches like last year again, they can’t afford him and it’s risky to even offer him a QO because he might accept it and if he pitches poorly or gets hurt then they are left with nothing. Rough start for the Jays.
If he’s worthy of a QO, they’d 100% be fine if he accepted it. There’s no risk in paying that much to one of the best closers in the game.
You’re probably right but I just don’t see the Jays making Giles the highest paid reliever in the game or close to it even if it’s for one year. It would be a strange use of financial resources for a team that still is probably a couple of years away from seriously contending again.
Yes let’s give a QO to a guy who’s elbows been about to blow since being acquired
It was evident Giles looked uncomfortable. Why wasn’t the trainer brought out? Radar gun clearly showed a problem.
Was anyone paying close attention to Giles on the bench? First, it was alarming that his fastball lost about 5 or 6 mph. Then it appeared he was have some discomfort. Pitching Coach Pete Walker came out to the mound with no trainer and then left him in. Felt really bad for Giles and I hope he’s not seriously hurt. But I really believe this could be serious.
Time to take a hard look at Montoya. Questionable decision-making in series #1 and he left his closer in while even TV viewers could clearly see something was wrong with Giles. This year is a 16-team postseason. If Montoya can’t close a Top 8 spot in the AL, he should be replaced. And if undisciplined baseball filters into this season, it’s now on him.