Mariners agree with Ken Giles, who will be out until 2022, on a 2-year deal

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Ken Giles has 115 MLB saves on his career in seven seasons. (Getty)

The Mariners have added another reliever, but not for now. A baseball source confirms that the Mariners have agreed on a multi-year contract with reliever Ken Giles. The 30-year-old right-hander underwent surgery on Tommy John in October and is unlikely to throw in 2021.

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Giles is coming from an injury deficit 2020 season in which he played only four games for the Toronto Blue Jays, giving up four runs.

In 2019, Giles posted an 1.87 ERA with Toronto, earning 23 saves. A power pitcher, Giles ranked in the 98th percentile in strikeout and whiff percentages in 2019, as well as the 94th percentile in speed with a fastball that averaged 97.4 mph and could hit 100. He also limited hitters to a .184 batting average against.

The signing continues a trend toward speed in the Mariners’ bullpen by general manager Jerry Dipoto who acquired Andrés Muñoz from the Padres on the 2020 trading deadline, re-signed Kendall Graveman shortly after the season’s end and swapped for Rafael Montero from the Rangers on December. 15, and signed to Keynan Middleton on December 16. The group has more in common than speed, as all four relievers also had Tommy John surgery.

The return of Tommy John surgery generally falls in the 14-16 month range, and the results in recent years have been largely good. While there is some debate as to the notion that pitchers can actually gain speed after surgery, Dr. Lewis Yocum, who worked with Dr. Frank Jobe, who pioneered the surgery, believed that pitchers were often short before surgery. , thus creating the illusion of speed gains – many returning to form.

Dipoto doesn’t shy away from pitchers coming off the practice with Marco Gonzales and Taijuan Walker making their way back in Mariners uniforms.

With the move, the 2022 bullpen may be in closer sight with the possibility of multiple relievers with elite speed at the rear.

The deal with Giles is pending a physical deal, to be finalized early next week.

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