SF Giants call up nasty reliever prospect, DFA Cal Stevenson
So far in 2023, the San Francisco Giants have not had a consistently trustworthy bullpen. But the team hopes that newly-promoted right-hander Ryan Walker can give them another option alongside Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers.
Walker was the Giants' 31st-round draft pick in 2018, 11 rounds past where the current MLB draft ends. He was the 916th player picked, but made steady progress through the Giants farm system. Walker went from rookie ball to high-A his first season, spent 2019 at high-A, reached AA in 2021, and joined the AAA River Cats last September.
He had 65 strikeouts in 53 innings and AA and AAA in 2022. This year, Walker has a stellar 0.89 ERA, with 23 strikeouts in 20.1 innings. He's also great at avoiding the home run ball, having yielded just one home run above A-ball, in 82.2 innings.
How does he do it? As our own Wrenzie Regodon explained back in February, it's his unique delivery. Walker has "extreme crossfire action by starting on the first base side of the pitching rubber before stepping towards the third-base line and throwing across his body with a low three-quarters release."
It's not as extreme as Rogers' submarine delivery, but Walker's motion is hard to pick up, particularly for right-handed hitters. That's huge when Walker's already throwing a 94 MPH slider with 26.9 inches of sink. Walker also throws a solid slider, but the main concern about him is walks.
To get Walker onto the 40-man roster, the Giants had to make a series of moves. First, they cleared a spot by designating outfielder Cal Stevenson for assignment. Stevenson went 0-12 in his time on the Giants, who now have a week to trade him or preferably pass him through waivers and send him to Sacramento.
The Giants also promoted Heliot Ramos to the majors just so they could put him on the 60-day injured list with an oblique strain, thus opening up a 40-man roster spot. Then, they put Ross Stripling on the IL with a back injury that caused him to leave Wednesday's start early.
Stripling can probably use the time off after pitching to a 7.24 ERA in his nine appearances, which includes yielding ten home runs in 32.1 innings. Perhaps his back has hurting his performance all year, or perhaps he's a sleeper agent for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Only time and a rehab start or two wil ltell.
Sean Manaea is likely to take Stripling's spot in the rotation, despite his own 7.81 ERA. Some of that was due to a brutal start in the high altitude of Mexico City, but Manaea hasn't been great at sea level either.
Stripling and Manaea each signed two-year, $25 million contracts this off-season that contain a player option for 2024 - which they both would absolutely opt into right now. That means the Giants have to simply be patient, and hope Stripling's back and Manae's walk rate both get better.
But if the starters continue to struggle, at least there's a new tricky reliever to mop up now. Walker has been defying the odds and the scouts so far in his career. Now he has a chance to do it at the big league level too.
