Ken Giles collected a World Series ring with the Astros last season. But now that he’s in Toronto, he’s enjoying baseball more than he has in years.

The former Houston closer, who was traded to the non-contending Blue Jays on July 30, criticized former manager A.J. Hinch this weekend for, he says, poorly communicating with Giles during their two-plus seasons together.

“I’m actually enjoying the game more than I did for my entire tenure in Houston,” Giles told the Toronto Star in a story published Friday. “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.”

On Monday, Giles softened his comments against the team, but again restated his issues with Hinch.

“I’m getting thrown out there like I didn’t know what was going on,” said Giles, who had lost his closer job in Houston and eventually volleyed between the majors and minors. “It keeps me out of the loop a little bit. I wasn’t told some information that I probably needed to know, instead just going into the dark out there without knowing what I needed to prepare for. … It’s a shame. I enjoyed my teammates there, we did a lot of great memories there, and I was very blessed to be with those guys and got to learn from those guys.”

Hinch, who is in the midst of his fourth season with Houston, was not pleased with Giles’ remarks.

“I think he’s wrong and 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 told reporters Tuesday, via The Athletic. “And I understand there’s some disappointment in his tenure as an Astro because of sort of the turbulent ways that things went about, but we gave him every opportunity. We communicated with him effectively.

“We have an incredible culture where every single player will tell you it’s one of the best cultures they’ve had, one of the best communication environments they’ve 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.”

Giles has 12 saves with Toronto and has pitched to a 4.58 ERA.