Your one-stop-shop for Rotoworld’s preseason fantasy baseball content.
Go to: All | SP | RP | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | DH
| Ryan Walker | SF - RP | ||||||||||||
| Throws: R | Age: 29 | Mixed 5x5: $9 | NL 5x5: $15 | |||||||||||
| 2024: Started: 1 Relieved: 75 | Mixed 2026: $5 | 2027: $1 | ||||||||||||
| Outlook: A 31st-round pick in 2018, Walker had already destroyed expectations when he showed up in the majors and performed like a quality middle reliever in 2023. Last season was something different entirely, as he one of the league’s most valuable relievers on his way to recording 10 wins, 10 saves and 21 holds over 80 innings. Hitters struggle to tell Walker’s mid-90s fastball and slider apart out of the hand, and they can’t wait him out, since he’s always around the strike zone. Of the 402 pitches to throw 50 innings last year, Walker had the 12th-highest rate of called strikes and was the only pitcher in the top 15 there to also have a swinging-strike rate better than league average. When hitters did make contact, they had a 30.3% hard-hit rate, which was again 12th best out of the 402 pitchers. Walker took over as the Giants’ closer when Camilo Doval lost the job in August and converted all of his save chances down the stretch. It’s unclear whether the Giants intend to give Doval another crack at the job; there’s an argument for it based on his pre-2024 performance and the fact that the Giants are already paying him like a closer. Walker projects as the better pitcher at this point, and if he is named the closer this spring, he’d jump to around 10th in the RP rankings. | |||||||||||||
