Ex-WPIAL star adapts to his role
As someone who has quite a bit of experience both as a starter and a reliever throughout his baseball career, Washington Wild Things reliever Tim Giel has learned to adapt quickly to every situation.
“When you’re a starting pitcher, you have a set routine,” said Giel, 24, a Hampton resident who pitched at Shady Side Academy and the Ivy League's Columbia University where he earned a degree in Computer Engineering. “You know which day you’re going to throw so you can do your long toss on certain days.
”With relieving, you know you’re not going to be out there for a long time so you can go out there and give it 100 percent when you are throwing the ball. When you’re starting, you can’t throw with everything you have because you’re hopefully going to be out there for six to nine innings. You have to rein it back a little bit.”
Giel went on to play at Cloumbia University in the Ivy League after graduating from Shady Side. He earned a degree in computer engineering from the prestigious New York City-based school.
He was signed by the New York Yankees after he graduated from Columbia, and he pitched for their shortseason Class A affiliate Staten Island Yankees for one game in 2013 and for 18 games with them last season. Last season, he had a 1-1 record and a 4.65 earned run average.
Through this past Tuesday’s 5-2 win against the Lake Erie Crushers, Giel had appeared in 10 games, striking out seven, walking four and carrying a 1-2 record with an earned run average of 1.42 in 12⅔ innings. The Wild Things were 16-24 and stood in last place in the Frontier League’s East Division.
Giel said he relies on three pitches — the fastball, a split-finger fastball and a curve. He said his experience with the Yankees left an indelible mark.
“Just show up to the field on time every day, do your job the way it’s supposed to be done and keep working hard,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing I took away from that. The Yankees come off as a big no-nonsense organization. No facial hair. You have to wear a polo shirt to the field every day. They know how to take baseball seriously, but at the same time, they have fun, too. There is a good mix there.”
Giel said he’s ready for every possibility as a relief pitcher, and that has helped him so far in Washington.
“We don’t have any defined roles on the team [for a closer],” he said. “But everyone has been able to do the job — first guy out of the pen or closer. Everyone has done a nice job doing that. I don’t think we need a set closer at this point."
He likes each pitcher’s approach to his task.
“We’re not tentative when we go out there,” he said. “We’re going to compete and throw strikes. We expect not to give up runs. That’s the biggest thing I like about this staff.”