Skip to main content

Prospect Nation 2013: #13 RHP Kenny Giles

By
Kenny Giles- photo by Dave Schofield
Right-handed pitcher Kenny Giles rose up these rankings more than any other Phillies prospect last year.  Armed with tremendous velocity, the 6-foot-2-inch 190-pounder has a bright future and could prove extremely valuable to the organization in the near future.

Drafted in the 7th round in 2011 out of Yavapai (Junior) College, although he was committed to transferring to Arizona, Giles began his professional career with the Gulf Coast League Phillies that year.  After facing a difficult decision to turn pro and leave college behind, Giles struck out seven in 4 2/3 innings over three outings with the GCL team.  Prior to making his debut in the minors, Giles, a big-time strike out artist, notched 67 punch outs in 38 innings during the 2011 college season.

The Albuquerque, NM native began the 2012 season with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws where he went 3-3 with five saves, a 3.61 ERA and a .215 batting average against in 29 outings (6 starts).  Giles was promoted to Class A Advanced Clearwater in July and proceeded to pitch exclusively as a reliever for the Threshers, going 1-0 with three saves, a 3.07 ERA and a .183 batting average against in 10 appearances.  Combined at the two levels, Giles sported a 12.18 K/9 mark last year.

Having grown up admiring Randy Johnson, Giles tries to emulate the mentality of the five-time Cy Young Award winning left-hander, with a focus on being aggressive, going after opposing batters and always keeping them guessing.

The youngster's pitch repertoire features a fastball that regularly ranges from 96-98 MPH, but clocked in the triple-digits quite a bit during the 2012 season.  He also throws a slider with late break that his coaches were extremely pleased with the progress of last year as well as a change up that he hopes will become a strong offering to play off of his major heat.

The area that the 22-year-old made the most progress with, aside from his slider, last year was his ability to control his delivery.  As some might expect a hurler with the capacity to throw pitches above 100 MPH to do, Giles showed a tendency to try to crank the speed way up and spoil his own mechanics.  This lack of focus hurt his control.  Making sure to calm down his own delivery, Giles was far more consistent and steady.

Look for Giles to potentially begin the upcoming season with Double-A Reading, or join that team early in the season, holding down a late-inning bullpen spot for the club.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

By
Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...
5 comments
Read more

Jason Knapp Q&A

By
PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...
5 comments
Read more

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

By
**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...
5 comments
Read more