Giants Fan Favorite Believes Ryan Walker Will Generate All-Star Buzz

Anything coming from former San Francisco Giants reliever Sergio Romo is high praise. Earlier this week Ryan Walker’s ears were likely burning.

Walker is expected to take on the closer role in 2026. He wants the job and there are few other options in the bullpen that have his experience. He’s lobbied for the job since January but is coming off an uneven 2025 in which he had the job, lost it and then got it back again, but only due to injury.

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Now, it’s essentially his job to lose. Recently, on KNBR’s “Papa & Silver,” Romo said that he believes Walker has the goods to be so much more than an effective closer this season. His comments were transcribed by NBC Sports Bay Area.

“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.

Sergio Romo on Ryan Walker

San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Sergio Romo throws a baseball in a game. — San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Sergio Romo. | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

Romo readily admits he wasn’t the most talented pitcher on his staff. But he was effective because he managed the strike zone and knew how to get hitters out. Having a potential Hall of Fame catcher Buster Posey calling signals behind the plate and framing pitches helped, too.

The former reliever said Walker can do the same things he did, only “10 miles [per hour].” The current Giants closer had a fastball that averaged nearly 96 mph last season. But he relies mostly on a slider and a sinker. So, if everything is 10 mph faster than what Romo could throw, well, there’s one issue that could come up.

“It’s impressive, right?” Romo said. “And it’s hard to control that.”

Walker experienced that continuum last season. He thrived early as he converted five saves in the first month of the season. But a blown save on April 20 left the door open for Camilo Doval to re-take the job. When Doval was traded, the job went to Randy Rodriguez, then an All-Star. When Rodriguez suffered an elbow injury that required surgery, the job went back to Walker, who had seven saves in nine chances after Aug. 24.

It led to a career-worst 4.12 ERA one season after he finished with a 1.90 ERA as a set-up man. He went 5-7 but saved a career-best 17 games.

Numbers aside, Romo sees what hitters see — a pitcher with the potential to induce a lot of swing and miss, low opponent batting averages and stuff and makes hitters second-guess themselves. He also understands why Walker was up-and-down last season.

“The whole league, whenever he stepped out on the mound [in 2024], 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. “And all of a sudden, you get put in the closer’s role and that messes with your psyche a little bit.”

That’s why the mental side is so important from Romo’s perspective. For Walker, that’s the gateway to becoming an All-Star, something he knows something about.

Romo became a fan favorite during his time with the Giants. He broke in with the franchise in 2008 and became a valuable piece of the San Francisco bullpen during its run of three World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. With San Francisco he had 84 saves in nine seasons, with a 32-26 record and a 2.58 ERA. He was an All-Star in 2013 with the Giants.

He played in the Majors for 15 years, with his career ending in 2022. He also played for the Tampa Bay Rays, the Minnesota Twins, the Athletics, the Miami Marlins, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Seattle Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays. He finished with 137 career saves, a 42-36 record and a 3.21 ERA. Since retirement, he’s become an analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area.