SF Giants officially have a closer controversy after narrow win over Brewers

It is official: the SF Giants have a closer controversy. Sound the alarms, batten down the hatches, and prepare for choppy waters. After Ryan Walker's second straight bad outing, it now appears Camilo Doval is the best closer option.

Full disclosure: I may have jinxed this whole situation. After Walker blew the save in Sunday's brutal loss to the Los Angeles Angels, I wrote that the Giants had a 9th inning problem when Walker was not available since no one else was reliable enough to close out games.

SF Giants have closer controversy between Walker and Doval

Then, Camilo Doval came in on Monday night against the Milwaukee Brewers and easily shut the door in the 9th inning with a three-run lead, something Walker was very much not able to do on Sunday.

On Wednesday, Walker came into the game in the 9th inning with a four-run lead. It was not a save situation, but we have seen manager Bob Melvin use his closer with a four-run lead before. It seemed like the perfect situation for Walker to come in and get some confidence back after his last outing.

Instead, it likely only made his confidence worse as he gave up two runs and left the tying run on second base while only recording one out. Melvin had seen enough and opted to go with Doval to get out of the jam. The hard-throwing righty came in and got the last two outs with ease, striking out Jackson Chourio and inducing a groundout from Christian Yelich, two of the best hitters in Milwaukee's order.

All of a sudden, it seems like Doval may have earned the closer role back after he lost it to Walker last season. There were signs that Doval was regaining his form in spring training and it was always clear that Melvin had not fully given up on him. Early this season it seemed like Melvin was experimenting with a sort of co-closer arrangement with Doval and Walker but that ended pretty quickly after some rough outings from Doval.

Since then, the 2023 All-Star has calmed things down, lowering his ERA to 2.45 on the season while recording four saves. Meanwhile, Walker's ERA has now ballooned to 7.27. For now, it seems like Doval is the superior option in the 9th inning.

We will have to see how Melvin manages this situation, but it would be hard to justify putting Walker in the game in the 9th if Doval is available just given how good Doval has looked as of late.

Maybe it will be dictated by rest more than anything, but the closer role could be a bit of a revolving door this season if the first month is any indication. Thankfully, the Giants escaped Wednesday's game with a victory but they now have some decisions to make about who will close out games.