Ranking the SF Giants' best options to replace Camilo Doval as closer

The SF Giants need to shake things up at closer. Camilo Doval simply is not cutting it anymore. Manager Bob Melvin should turn to some of his other options in the bullpen to close. Here are his best options ranked to replace Doval.

The SF Giants need a new closer

Camilo Doval is struggling. He has an insanely high walk rate this season and his ERA is a career-high at 4.70. We all know that Doval is capable of being a solid closer in the big leagues but this year he is just not cutting it. His two walks against the Nationals in yesterday's game before allowing a 3-run homer to tie the game were inexcusable. Thankfully, it did not cost the Giants the game but it very easily could have.

Giants manager Bob Melvin needs to make a change. The Giants remain in the NL postseason conversation but in order to make the playoffs they need to play very well coming down the stretch. Every single game is going to matter and they cannot afford to risk losing games because they have an inconsistent and unreliable closer.

It would be one thing if the whole bullpen was bad. Then sticking with Doval would make sense since he does have the raw stuff of a closer. But the Giants have several other arms that are more than capable of serving as the closer for the team. Let's rank these options starting from worst to best.

4. Jordan Hicks

Jordan Hicks began the year as a starter but now he is back in the bullpen. This is not an unfamiliar place for him as he has been a reliever for the vast majority of his career. He has 32 career saves along with 12 blown saves but most of those blown chances came earlier in his career.

Hicks definitely has closer stuff. When he is right his fastball can approach triple digits and he can sink that fastball which he pairs nicely with his splitter and slider.

Hicks would not be a bad option to close, but he may not be the best because he may still need more time to reacclimate to being a reliever after being a starter for much of the year. He definitely has the potential to be a high-leverage arm, though.

Now let's look at two more options for the closer role.

The best SF Giants closer option to replace Camilo Doval

1. Ryan Walker

Ryan Walker is the best candidate to be the closer for the Giants. Sure, he only has one career save, but he undeniably has the stuff of a closer.

He has a wicked sinker and a nasty slider. He also does not walk a lot of batters, only surrendering 13 free passes in 60 and 1/3 innings pitched. Compare that with Camilo Doval's 29 walks in 44 innings and your mouth starts to water involuntarily imagining a 9th inning without any walks.

Plus, if you have noticed Ryan Walker likes to tilt his cap to one side when he pitches. We saw Santiago Casilla do the same thing when he was a closer for the Giants. That was also the signature move of longtime MLB closer Fernando Rodney.

I firmly believe that any reliever who tilts their cap to one side is capable of being a closer. It is their way or letting everyone know that they're just a little bit crazy. They don't conform to the conventional rules of society that everyone else must follow. A batter in the box sees a pitcher with that cap slightly askew and has that moment of brief panic where they think the pitcher might bean them in the ribs in an 0-2 count because he just wants to watch the world burn like the Joker.

Walker's profile as a pitcher makes him a great candidate to be a closer, but the cap thing puts him over the top. The Giants need to make a change at closer and soon. Doval is not cutting it. Perhaps some sort of closer by committee approach would work but Melvin needs to do something right now because the current situation is not tenable.