WYOMISSING
Ken Giles finished doing an interview with a horde of media and breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m glad that’s over,” he told two female accomplices. “That was tough.”
Giles still seemed a little bit in awe as he made his way around the room during Tuesday’s Phillies Winter Caravan stop at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
This time last year, the 24-year-old right-hander was a relative unknown.
A year later, the hard-throwing reliever who consistently hits 100 mph on the radar gun is a Phillies fan favorite and a key piece to their future.
“I’m honored to be known as one of those guys, but it’s a whole process, not just one guy,” Giles said. “I think we’re going to feed off our bullpen this coming season. It’s a strong bullpen with young guys like (Justin) DeFratus, (Jake) Diekman, Mario (Hollands).
“As a bullpen, we’re going to try and liven up the team a little bit. Bring some energy to the stadium and the city of Philadelphia ... bring down the house a little bit.”
Giles brought some energy to Citizens Bank Park last season when he hit 100 mph on the stadium’s radar gun night after night.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder went 3-1 with a 1.18 ERA and 0.788 WHIP in his first big league season, striking out 64 in 45.2 innings and allowing just one home run — to the first batter he faced. In 44 games, he walked just 11 hitters.
He combined with Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman and Jonathan Papelbon to throw a no-hitter Sept. 1 at Atlanta.
His popularity increased every time the radar gun reached triple digits.
“It gets me excited, because I know the fans are excited,” Giles said of the crowd’s reaction to throwing 100 mph. “I know how Philly fans are. Any kind of edge they can get to help us win a game, they’re going to do it.”
A seventh-round draft pick in 2011, Giles climbed the Phillies’ prospect charts after a stellar 2012 season in which he went 4-3 with eight saves, a 3.51 ERA and 111 strikeouts over 82 innings with Low-A Lakewood and High-A Clearwater.
But while his fame began to take shape due to his high velocity, Giles’ numbers slumped in 2013. He went 2-2 with six saves and a whopping 6.31 ERA in 24 games at Clearwater.
Sure, he could throw the ball through a wall. But he could he get it over the plate?
That was the major question surrounding Giles when he was invited to major league camp last spring.
“I saw him in spring training and he had a hard time getting ahead in the count,” Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said Tuesday. “His breaking ball wasn’t breaking yet.
“By the time he came up, the minor league instructors and his coaches did a good job with him. He really came a long way in a short period of time.”
Giles impressed the Phillies in spring training, and continued that success at Double-A Reading. He struck out 29 batters in 15 innings with the Fightins, recording seven saves in 13 appearances with a 1.20 ERA and 0.867 WHIP.
He was promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he was 2-0 with five saves and a 2.70 ERA in 11 appearances, striking out nine in 13.1 innings. The Phillies called him up June 12.
Giles quickly gained the confidence of Sandberg, who used him in eighth-inning situations and as a set-up man to closer Papelbon for the final half of the season.
“He’s pretty incredible,” Sandberg said. “He’s a guy right now that I have confidence in in any situation late in the game. He was lights out. He has a real good attitude about him, a team player and a pitcher that likes to win. He shows a lot of emotion out there.”
Giles said learning to be a “pitcher” instead of a “thrower” was the key. More importantly, developing his slider as a secondary pitch was critical if he wanted to be successful as a major league pitcher.
Giles credited DeFratus, another one of the Phillies’ young relievers who has bounced between the majors and Triple-A the past couple of seasons, for helping him with his slider.
“You have to be a pitcher before you can be a big leaguer,” Giles said. “You have to learn how to throw your secondary pitches. You have to learn how to throw first-pitch strikes. You have to learn to throw your fastball close to where you need it.
“It’s better known to be a pitcher than a thrower on the mound. It gives that hitter a concern knowing he’s more of a pitcher than a guy that just throws hard.”
Although he’s drawn comparisons to former Phillies reliever Brad Lidge and current Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, Giles said he didn’t model himself after any particular reliever.
The Albuquerque, New Mexico, native said Randy Johnson was his boyhood idol.
The Phillies can only hope he continues to be as dominant as the Big Unit.
“I always watched Randy Johnson when I was younger. He was my idol and now he’s a Hall of Famer,” Giles said. “I think he was a great guy to follow through my childhood.
“The things I learned from him just watching videos of him, how hitters were so intimidated by him.
“I’m not as tall or as lanky as he is, but it’s all mental. Mentally, he showed he wasn’t scared. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”