Ryan

Walker

Walker heads back to the minors to open a spot in San Francisco’s bullpen for waiver claim Joel Kuhnel. The 30-year-old former high-leverage reliever is arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason and could wind up being a non-tender candidate.

Walker gets another shot with San Francisco after struggling in his previous go-around. The 30-year-old former closer is likely ticketed for middle relief work for now. He’s struggled to a bloated 7.52 ERA across 26 1/3 innings of work at the highest level this season.

Walker had allowed 11 earned runs in his last six appearances while walking four and striking out just one. He’s far removed from the closer role in San Francisco and can be dropped in any leagues where you were holding out for a rebound.

Vitello told reporters that Kilian will serve as their closer with Ryan Walker occupying a fireman role in the late innings following his return from a brief minor-league demotion where he made several mechanical adjustments. Kilian has converted four of five save opportunities this season. He’s at least worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues where every save matters.

Walker had a 1.93 ERA in 9 1/3 innings in Sacramento, striking out seven and allowing no homers. He’s obviously not being handed the closer’s role back right away, but nobody else in San Francisco has really seized it either. Walker’s ultimately a monitor at this point in most leagues.

In 6 1/3 innings since being demoted to Triple-A, Walker has allowed one run on five hits while striking out seven and walking two. In the meantime, nobody has really distinguished themselves in the Giants’ bullpen. He certainly has a chance to pitch himself back into the closer’s role at some point this season.

How the mighty have fallen. The 30-year-old right-hander opened the season as the Giants’ closer, but he has registered a miserable 6.46 ERA, 1.89 WHIP and a 14/10 K/BB ratio over 15 1/3 innings in his first 16 appearances. He’ll try to work through his issues at the Triple-A level for the time being. Even in the deepest of leagues, it’s safe for fantasy managers to cut bait here.

Walker allowed three hits and walked one after coming on during the fifth inning. Those who picked up Caleb Killian or Keaton Winn still aren’t assured much of anything, but that Walker was used so early and fared poorly tonight bodes well for the Giants’ alternatives in the ninth.

Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run homer off him. It’s the fourth straight appearance in which Walker has been scored upon, and his hold on the closer’s role in San Francisco is probably completely gone at this point. That’s good news for Caleb Kilian and Keaton Winn, but with the situation still unsettled and Erik Miller rejoining the mix pretty soon, it’s a tough situation to speculate on in shallow leagues. Kilian might be the best bet. Winn, for what it’s worth, retired two of the three batters he faced after coming into a tie game in the seventh today and was dinged with a run after leaving.

Walker was summoned in the eighth inning with a one-run lead to face the heart of the Rays’ order. He put runners on the corners with no outs on a walk and a single, then blew the lead on a game-tying sacrifice bunt before getting out of the inning. He’d get charged with his second blown save this week as the Giants struggle to find consistency in the late innings. It might be time to start speculating on Keaton Winn and Erik Miller, though it’s unlikely manager Tony Vitello settles on one reliever in the ninth inning.