Struggling SF Giants reliever could benefit from a demotion to minors

The SF Giants entered this season with Ryan Walker as their closer. However, he has struggled mightily and lost the closer role to Camilo Doval. He may need a demotion to reset things like the team did with Doval last season.

In 36 appearances this season, Walker has a 4.64 ERA. While he has had some good outings, he has looked like a shell of the dominant reliever we saw last season who posted a 1.91 ERA in 80 innings pitched.

SF Giants should demote struggling reliever to give him a reset

Walker has just not had the same command he had last season. His usually reliable slider has betrayed him at times and he just has not looked like that un-hittable pitcher who had opposing players impressed with him.

His most recent outing on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox may have been his worst yet. He entered the game with the Giants leading by a run with two runners on base and he allowed three runs total, one of which scored after Walker balked. He balked on Friday as well which is puzzling.

His struggles really are reminiscent of the ones we saw from Doval in 2024. Doval was fresh off an All-Star campaign in 2023 and had looked like one of the most elite closers in baseball. Then, he began walking batters at a higher rate, started blowing more games, and had a negative attitude that the coaching staff did not love which resulted in him being demoted to Triple-A.

Doval only spent a couple weeks in the minors before he was called back up. He looked a little better once he was called back up, but this season he has looked much more like the Doval we grew accustomed to in 2022 and 2023, posting a 2.70 ERA in 36 and 2/3 innings pitched.

Maybe Walker needs a wake-up call similar to the one Doval received last season. A few weeks in the minors where Walker is under less pressure and can work on dialing in his mechanics could end up working wonders for him.

We know when Walker is right he can be a truly elite reliever. The Giants are going to need him to get back to his normal self at some point this season and perhaps a brief demotion could bring about better results down the road.