Blue Jays' Giles felt trapped, out of place in Houston

Toronto Blue Jays closer Ken Giles will be among familiar company on Monday when his former team, the Houston Astros, visits the Rogers Centre for the first time since he was traded.

The hard-throwing right-hander, who struggled in Houston this season and was eventually shipped to Toronto in July, recently discussed how it felt leaving a World Series champion to play for the rebuilding Blue Jays.

"I'm actually enjoying the game more than I did for my entire tenure in Houston," Giles told Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star. "It's kind of weird to say that because I won a World Series with that team. But it's like, I just felt trapped there. I didn't feel like myself there. Overall, I felt out of place."

Astros manager A.J. Hinch questioned the accuracy of Giles' comments.

"I think he's wrong. I'm disappointed that he would go down that path given how much work and time and energy and communication that our front office, our coaching staff, me - we all went through this with him," Hinch said, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle.

"Every single player will tell you (the Astros are) one of the best cultures they've had, one of the best communication environments they had. They all know their roles, they all know their situations. To have one person, out of all the guys in our clubhouse, come out and claim otherwise is flat wrong."

The 28-year-old reliever and two other players were sent across the border in exchange for fellow reliever Roberto Osuna after Giles wrote himself into the Astros' bad books following a pair of on-field incidents.

He was pulled from a May 1 outing after allowing a three-run blast in a close contest with the New York Yankees and was seen punching himself in the face on his way to the dugout.

Two months later, Giles was demoted to Triple-A after he appeared to curse at Hinch following another rocky performance.

He spent the remainder of his Astros tenure in the minors before he was traded to Toronto at the non-waiver deadline, a move he's been grateful for.

"I come here, they had their arms open to me," Giles explained. "They asked me what I wanted to do. And then (manager John Gibbons) saying, you're the closer, that's what you were born to do, you're the man. I said, I'm not going to let you down."

As of Monday afternoon, Giles is a perfect 12-for-12 in save opportunities and owns a 0.77 ERA in save situations since his arrival in Toronto. In non-save situations, however, his ERA is a bloated 12.00, which he plans to improve on.

"It happens to every closer," Giles described. "It's one of those things that's unexplainable for closers. I admit it and I always man up about it. I can do better in those situations. I need to focus more. Go out there and attack rather than thinking I've just got to get some work in. But every closer has problems with it. They'll all tell you the same thing - it doesn't feel the same, blah-blah-blah.

"I don't know what it is. I just know I'm getting my job done when they need me."