Ryan

Walker

Walker’s save was his 10th of the season. He threw a perfect inning and lowered his ERA to 1.94 in the process. Walker is one of the better relievers in baseball and will soon gain notoriety in the fantasy community as he heads into next season with the closer job.

Walker plunked MJ Melendez to start this inning, but made easy work of the rest of Kansas City to secure his ninth save of the season. This was a nice bounce-back after surrendering a walk-off home run against the Orioles on Thursday. That was his first outing in which he allowed an earned run since July 26th as he’s asserted himself as one of the better relievers in the game.

Walker came in with out in the eighth after Camilo Doval gave up two runs, and he immediately got a double play. He then pitched a perfect ninth. Doval had previously been pretty good since his recall, but there’s no doubt about who the man is in the Giants pen right now.

Walker gave up a hit, but he kept the runner from scoring to lower his ERA to a very strong 1.86 ERA. He’s had no issue transitioning to the closer role, as he’s now up to six saves on the season, and he hasn’t blown one since taking over the gig in the middle of August.

Walker didn’t allow a hit and threw 10-of-14 pitches for strikes. The 28-year-old has been a pleasant surprise for the Giants in 2024, and he’s up to five saves with a strong 1.92 ERA over 67 appears and 70 1/3 frames.

Walker was summoned to protect a one-run lead in the final frame and needed just 18 pitches (13 strikes) to preserve the victory. He gave up a two-out single to Brewers star Willy Adames, but managed to coax a harmless fly out from Blake Perkins to extinguish the threat. The 28-year-old right-hander has been outstanding since last month’s All-Star break, compiling a microscopic 0.95 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 28/5 K/BB ratio across 19 innings (18 appearances). He seems to have a firm grip on the Giants’ closing role until further notice.

Walker came in to face top of the lineup, and while he did allow a bloop single to Justin Turner, he struck out two and was able to get Randy Arozarena to ground out meekly to end the game. The 28-year-old has his third save of the year, and he lowered his ERA to 1.98 in the process.

San Francisco was clearly sending a message earlier this month when Doval was surprisingly optioned to the minors, but they’ve seen what they needed to give him another shot back in the majors. The hard-throwing 27-year-old former stopper likely isn’t getting the full-time closing gig back from Ryan Walker, who hasn’t allowed an earned run in 10 consecutive appearances since July 30. However, he figures to be an option in high-leverage spots for the Giants and could vulture the occasional save chance when Walker isn’t available for workload reasons.

Saturday is the first day Doval is eligible to be recalled, unless an IL move opens up a spot. After giving up two runs in his first Triple-A appearance, Doval has pitched three perfect innings in a row, striking out one batter each time. Melvin didn’t commit to returning him to the closer’s role right away, so Ryan Walker might keep the job for now.

He needed just 11 pitches to do it. Walker is taking this closing thing seriously, it seems. His last two appearances have come with his highest average fastball velocities of the year; he came in at 96.8 mph on Sunday and 97.1 mph in this one. He might well be a top-10 fantasy reliever from here on in.