After a tumultuous 2025 MLB season for Ryan Walker, the 30-year-old relief pitcher is looking to reclaim his role as the Giants’ undisputed closer.
Former Giants closer Sergio Romo explained in an interview with KNBR’s “Papa & Silver” why he expects that Walker will successfully stake his claim.
“I’m excited to just keep reaffirming that his conviction is real and it plays,” Romo said. “And his ability; he can do what I did 10 miles harder, 10 miles faster with the breaking ball and the sinker. It’s impressive, right? And it’s hard to control that.”
Walker’s confidence and ability early in his MLB career is what earned him the closer role in an impressive 2024 campaign. He finished that season with a 1.91 ERA along with 10 saves.
The beginning of 2025 went differently. He struggled with command and posted a 4.95 ERA into late May, forcing then-manager Bob Melvin to turn back to Camilo Doval.
“The whole league, whenever he stepped out on the mound, was like, ‘Wait, who’s this? Who’s that? Woah, I didn’t know this guy could do this or that,’ and then the league adjusts to you because they now know who you are,” Romo said, explaining Walker’s struggles. “And all of a sudden, you get put in the closer’s role and that messes with your psyche a little bit.
“That kind of goes to why I said a little bit earlier where a pitcher’s job never changes. You got to throw strikes and get outs any way possible.”
Romo explained that Walker’s arsenal reminds him of his own: lots of movement and deception that keeps the batter guessing.
The slider is a key piece of that arsenal. And for Walker, the pitch was not working for him last season. That forced him to fall back to his sinker more frequently, he explained to reporters last week.
“Last year I would start counter-rotating pretty heavily and that just made it hard to get back to where I need to be to get my pitches to do what they need to do and be where they need to be,” Walker said. “I just kind of focused on staying more square and having a better direction towards the mound with my upper body so I don’t get too counter-rotated. That’s helped out a lot getting my arm to where it needs to be.”
Romo believes if Walker can regain that command, he will return to form and once again become deadly out of the San Francisco bullpen.
“This game is not really ready for guys like him,” Romo stated. “It’s hard to prepare for a guy like him because you don’t know which way it’s going to go, and it tunnels, and it all looks the same out of the hand.”
With his offseason mechanical fixes and a resurgence of confidence, Romo has little doubt Walker will be closer to his 2024 form.
“And if he can find a way to mentally stay consistent? Man, I think he can be an all-star, I really believe that,” Romo said.
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