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Ken Giles, man. He was good as a setup man for Jonathan Papelbon this year — not great, but very good. He had a 1.85 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 43.2 innings, which is all very good, but then he had 20 walks and a 1.35 WHIP. In and of themselves, that's not terrible, but for the highest tier of closers, those numbers were too high.
But then Papelbon got traded to the Nationals, and the Phillies installed Giles as closer, and he became vintage Craig Kimbrel?
It's a small sample, to be sure, but since the trade, Giles has pitched 15 innings in 13 games. He's saved 11 games in 11 opportunities. His ERA is 0.60, and it's matched by a similarly stingy 0.73 WHIP. And the best number is that strikeout-to-walk ratio, with 19 strikeouts and only a single walk. (All numbers are through Saturday, because Baseball Reference doesn't update in real-time, but that's okay, Giles saved Sunday's game, too.) If the Phillies were, you know, any good, Giles would be right up there among the most elite relievers.
Despite some recent struggles, Tyler Clippard has improved his numbers as well since the deadline. He had a 2.79 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP and a 38:21 K:BB rate with Oakland; those numbers are 2.49, 1.03 and 20:8, respectively, since joining the Mets. Kevin Jepsen went from a decent reliever (2.81, 1.30, 34:20) in Tampa Bay to somehow a shutdown, take-over-for-Glen-Perkins closer for a somehow contending Minnesota team (1.37, 0.81, 18:7).
This is not to say all the midseason reliever trades worked out for all the teams. You need look no further than Washington (Papelbon and Drew Storen both) to see that. But some of these teams' moves have unquestionably let us see some relievers who have become very impressive (or, you know, very impressive-er) since the end of July. It helped the Mets, saved the Twins and reassured the Phillies.
But sorry, Nationals.
On to the Closer Rankings, followed as always by What They're Talking About.
Closer Rankings
| Rank | Player | Team | Last Week |
| 1 | Kenley Jansen | LAD | 1 |
| 2 | Aroldis Chapman | CIN | 3 |
| 3 | Andrew Miller | NYY | 2 |
| 4 | Trevor Rosenthal | SLC | 4 |
| 5 | David Robertson | CHW | 5 |
| 6 | Craig Kimbrel | SDP | 7 |
| 7 | Mark Melancon | PIT | 9 |
| 8 | Ken Giles | PHI | 11 |
| 9 | Roberto Osuna | TOR | 13 |
| 10 | Jonathan Papelbon | WAS | 8 |
| 11 | Zach Britton | BAL | 14 |
| 12 | Cody Allen | CLE | 10 |
| 13 | Jeurys Familia | NYM | 15 |
| 14 | Huston Street | LAA | 12 |
| 15 | Greg Holland | KAN | 24 |
| 16 | Shawn Tolleson | TEX | 17 |
| 17 | Kevin Jepsen | MIN | 19 |
| 18 | Wade Davis | KAN | 6 |
| 19 | Luke Gregerson | HOU | 16 |
| 20 | Hector Rondon | CHC | 18 |
| 21 | A.J. Ramos | MIA | 20 |
| 22 | Santiago Casilla | SFG | 23 |
| 23 | John Axford | COL | 25 |
| 24 | Francisco Rodriguez | MIL | 22 |
| 25 | Brad Boxberger | TAM | 26 |
| 26 | Tom Wilhelmsen | SEA | 27 |
| 27 | Dellin Betances | NYY | 21 |
| 28 | Brad Ziegler | ARI | NR |
| 29 | Sean Doolittle | OAK | NR |
| 30 | I refuse; no one else is good |
What They're Talking About
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On Kenley Jansen:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kenley Jansen: *is great in the majority of his appearances* Kenley Jansen: *has a rough outing* Dodger Twitter: KENLEY SUX</p>— Sarah Wexler (@SarahWexler32) <a href="https://twitter.com/SarahWexler32/status/643199009717288960">September 13, 2015</a></blockquote>
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On Ken Giles:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ken Giles extended scoreless streak to season-best 13 innings. converted each of 13 save opportunities since assuming the closers role.</p>— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) <a href="https://twitter.com/ToddZolecki/status/643165000631197696">September 13, 2015</a></blockquote>
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On Kevin Jepsen:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kevin Jepsen in 20 GP since joining Twins: 1-1, 1.45 ERA, 9 H, 3 ER, 7 BB, 18 SO, 7 SV in 18.2 IP</p>— Ex Twins News (@Ex_Twins_News) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ex_Twins_News/status/642248959822561281">September 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
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On John Axford:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2.84 ERA in the 19 innings since this tweet. <a href="https://t.co/rbDCfqrOyV">https://t.co/rbDCfqrOyV</a></p>— Ryan Freemyer (@RFreemyer) <a href="https://twitter.com/RFreemyer/status/643204384533422080">September 13, 2015</a></blockquote>
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On Dellin Betances:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dellin Betances allowed 0 homers in his first 40 1/3 innings this season, through July 3rd. Since then: 5 homers in 32 1/3 innings.</p>— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/642788513801465856">September 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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On Sean Doolittle:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Oakland <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Athletics?src=hash">#Athletics</a> closer Sean Doolittle records first save since 2014. He's baaaack. <a href="http://t.co/60iq0Z5Fdr">http://t.co/60iq0Z5Fdr</a> <a href="http://t.co/8mU3PZzpbL">pic.twitter.com/8mU3PZzpbL</a></p>— Athletics Nation (@athleticsnation) <a href="https://twitter.com/athleticsnation/status/641097204791427072">September 8, 2015</a></blockquote>
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