Phillies get to ex-closer Giles for two runs

CLEARWATER, Fla. - About a dozen fans who lounged on the grass berm beyond the outfield rushed Sunday afternoon to a fence near the visiting bullpen. Between the fourth and fifth innings of a meaningless Grapefruit League game, they snapped photos of the righthander with the flat orange brim of his cap pulled down.

Ken Giles, Houston Astros closer, was throwing.

He was greeted by a smattering of cheers. His first fastball registered 97 m.p.h. The next one, displayed on the scoreboard to fans at Bright House Field, went 99 m.p.h. Some fans howled like old times.

"Easy to see from shortstop," said former teammate Freddy Galvis, who struck out. "Hard to see in the batter's box."

For the rebuilding Phillies, Giles was a luxury. A potential 100-loss team does not need a star closer. The front office seized those current market dynamics and turned Giles plus a minor-leaguer into five potential starting pitchers.

That did not lessen the sting of seeing him Sunday as an opponent.

The Phillies squared up on some Giles pitches and scored two runs in Sunday's 5-4 win over Houston. Progress for the rebuilding Phillies looks like Rule 5 pick Tyler Goeddel lashing a 97-m.p.h. Giles fastball for a single. The little things.

Sure, the Phillies cherished Giles. Other teams had more immediate priorities.

"It's great," Giles said. "I didn't think I was that valuable to begin with because I'm just a reliever. Nobody thinks relievers are that valuable. The market's changed for a reliever. I feel humbled that they thought of me as that valuable and hopefully both teams get the best benefit."

They could. The fact that Giles became such a commodity is a Phillies success story. He was a seventh-round pick from junior college who could not throw strikes in the lower minors. The organization's player-development team helped him become a shutdown bullpen arm.

For Giles, the sight on Sunday of old teammates and coaches made him grateful. His powerful fastball gained a cult following while he was at double-A Reading. He proposed to his wife on the grass at Citizens Bank Park one night after a game.

Giles never believed he would be traded.

"I thought I'd be one of those guys to help the younger guys develop like the Cole Hamels and Cliff Lees did for me," Giles said. "And I thought I was going to be there to help grind them through the season. Things happen for a reason, so I'm going to fly with that for now."

The trade, at least, allowed Giles to gain 23 games in the standings. He will be the closer for a Houston team that expects to contend for a World Series. He appears to be more comfortable with the mental challenges of being a closer, thanks to Jonathan Papelbon.

"He's the reason why I'm doing so well early in my career," Giles said. "He was there to train me from Day 1."

Papelbon, the controversial former Phillies closer now best known for choking a teammate in Washington, helped Giles understand the idiosyncratic life of a closer. He advised Giles against becoming a certain archetype.

"Don't change who you are," Giles said. "Just be the competitor who you are from Day 1. Don't try to be someone who you're not. With the stuff I have, don't try to be who he was when he won a World Series, or who [Aroldis] Chapman is, or who [Craig] Kimbrel is. Be yourself and who you want to be and who people know you to be."

That person, Giles said, is a wise guy. He likes to joke with his teammates, although much of it was behind the scenes in Philadelphia.

Astros manager A.J. Hinch, a former Phillies catcher, said he's heard plenty of Giles stories from old friends. What stuck out, Hinch said, is the seriousness with which Giles works. The sarcasm has yet to manifest.

"He's been pretty tame," Hinch said. "You can see little glimpses of it now and then. I'm pretty aware of the personality that's going to come out here in about 10 days when the team leaves."

The Phillies know, and they'll be watching if Giles pitches deep into October.

mgelb@philly.com

@MattGelb