How Ryan Walker learned to overcome bad outings and became SF Giants’ closer

SAN FRANCISCO — A former 31st-round draft pick who methodically climbed the minor-league ladder and debuted last May in relative anonymity at 27 years old, Ryan Walker was such an unlikely candidate to become the Giants’ next closer even he had trouble envisioning it until recently.

Walker’s elevation to the closer’s role wouldn’t have been possible without a season’s worth of lights-out performances in increasingly high-leverage situations. But first he had to learn how to deal with the bad ones.

“I (would) just let my emotions take over,” Walker said. “With the harder innings, I’ve been able to not mentally destroy myself on those anymore. Last year, I did a little bit. Afterward. Even in the middle.”

In fact, in the middle of his stickiest situation since assuming the role, Walker did some of his best work. Protecting a 4-2 lead last Saturday in Oakland, Walker loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 10th, but he buckled down to strike out the next three batters to end the game.

“When the bases got juiced, I honestly felt more calm,” he said afterward.

In four appearances as the team’s closer, Walker has performed so well in the role (5 IP, 0 ER, 11 K’s) that he could hold it down even when Camilo Doval returns from his minor-league assignment. Manager Bob Melvin said he expected his former closer back soon — the minimum 15 days from when he was optioned will elapse Saturday — but wouldn’t commit to giving Doval his old role.

Prior to his promotion, Walker established himself as one of the league’s most reliable relievers, appearing in more games (63) than anybody but teammate Tyler Rogers (64) while posting a 2.78 ERA with his sinker-slider mix.

“I’ve discovered a lot of stuff about myself,” the crossfiring right-hander said earlier this season. “I’ve just learned more about my abilities. Understanding that I can do this.”

A short memory is a quality valued by most athletes, but baseball players in particular, as they deal with a daunting and unrelenting rate of failure for nine months of the year. And no subgroup within the sport experiences the grind more acutely than a team’s relief corps.

Just ask Taylor Rogers, who has performed just about every role there is in a bullpen and recorded 83 saves from 2019 to 2022 before joining the Giants as a free agent ahead of the 2023 season.

“It is the worst feeling when you come in and you’ve got to look your teammates in the eye knowing that was your fault,” Rogers said. “You definitely don’t want to carry that with you. Obviously you try to learn things from those, but especially for Walker right now, those are far and few between.”

Rogers memorably threw his glove in the dugout trash can after a tough outing early last season, and like it was a different receptacle, flushed the performance from his mind right there with it. He went his next 12 outings without allowing another earned run.

Taylor Rogers threw his glove in the trash and then punched the bench after his rough outing pic.twitter.com/AFmB7pPgSO

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 13, 2023

Rogers’ twin brother Tyler has a similarly short memory, providing a model for younger relievers such as Walker and Erik Miller.

“The Rogers twins are a great example,” Miller, 26, said. “Even if they have a bad outing, you can tell when you come back in they’re not beating themselves up over it and certainly by the next day you have no idea if they went 1-2-3 or they gave up five runs.”

Staying even-keeled and learning how to process failure on the biggest stage is one piece of development that requires on-the-job training. It’s still a work in progress for many young players when they reach the bright lights of the big leagues, and the Giants are no exception.

When cameras captured Miller’s outburst last month at Dodger Stadium after two outfielders let a fly ball drop in between them, Melvin pulled him aside the next day, which was enough time for him to see the situation through a less emotional lens.

“By the time I wake up the next morning I’m usually OK with it,” Miller said of his tough outings, which have been few and far between with a 3.93 ERA in 57 appearances. “If somebody says he can get rid of that feeling by the time they leave (the stadium), I’d say that they’re lying.”

One common theme every reliever mentioned: job security.

“There’s a big relief when you know you’ve gotten past the point where you know you’re not going to get sent down because you blow one,” Rogers said. “Once you get to the point as a reliever where you’re not on that train, you can relax a little bit.”

That has certainly been the case for Walker, who went from not appearing on Baseball America’s list of the Giants’ top 30 prospects to appearing in more games this year than any pitcher aside from Tyler Rogers. Now the ninth inning is his.

But his change of mindset is even more deeply rooted, with the help of his wife, Alexis.

A San Francisco native who was a psychology major when they met at Washington State and now a therapist by trade, “she knows what to do,” Walker said. “She knows what to say.”

Through conversations over the winter in their Arizona home while raising their 12-month-old daughter, Rylie, or just in whatever temporary confines they find themselves in after a game, “she’s really good at just talking me through it, husband and wife.”

“It’s nice because she can really identify the problems,” Walker said. “A lot of it was just being mentally aware of it. Understanding that there’s going to be failures in the game and not making those failures such a huge issue. Everyone’s going to give up a few runs.

“That was my biggest thing, was just being aware of it. Previously I wasn’t necessarily not aware, I just let my emotions take over. That’s pretty much it. It helped me suppress it a bit.”

Making his major-league debut last May 21, 2023, Walker appeared in 49 games with a 3.23 ERA — a respectable rookie season by any measure — but on the rare occasions he didn’t have a clean inning, negative thoughts would begin to creep into his head.

“Just a ton of self-doubt. A ton of self-doubt,” he said. “Thinking sucky thoughts, like I’m going to be sent back to Triple-A or that I don’t belong here. Just terrible things.”

Walker entered this season with more job security and mental fortitude, and it was put to the test early on. He didn’t have it April 16 in Miami, issuing a pair of walks while allowing three runs in a 6-3 loss. But he struck out the side in his next appearance two days later and didn’t surrender another run for nearly a month.

“Miami was a rough one for me,” he said. “But during the whole chaos, I just kept making pitches even though it was hard to find the zone that day. And then afterward, it was like, OK, you’re frustrated, but I’m not going in and setting the clubhouse on fire or anything, you know what I mean? Pissed off. Just move on to the next day and knowing it’s a different day and a different opportunity.”

Those opportunities have come fast and furious for Walker this season, and he’s earned the higher stakes at each step.

As well as the respect of his fellow relievers.

“I think what’s pretty cool about Walk is that he took his deficiencies hard in the beginning,” Rogers said. “Like, he wanted to have everything every day, and that’s just not gonna happen.

“I think he’s really gotten over that fact and just said, ‘Whatever I have today, I’m just going to be good with that,’ and he’s really gotten to where he trusts all his preparation and his work. So now he’s out there just breathing.”