The San Francisco Giants beat the Washington Nationals in extra innings on Saturday, but the game again put Ryan Walker at the center of a problem the club can no longer ignore. Walker was handed the save in the ninth and let it slip away on a bloop hit after an 0-2 pitch that stayed below the strike zone.
Walker came back to pitch the 10th and did not allow a run, which only sharpened the question around his role. He has now blown seven saves in 24 opportunities last season, and he also gave up a two-run home run in his other save chance earlier this year in San Diego.
The hard part for the Giants is that the alternative is not clean either. Tyler Rogers has converted 19 of 43 save opportunities in his career, while Walker has finished 29 of 43. That is why the club has kept leaning on a closer-by-committee approach, even as one view of the bullpen says that approach is no longer sustainable.
What Saturday showed is the gap between what Walker can do and where he is being asked to do it. He was able to handle the 10th inning, but the ninth once again turned into trouble. The article argues that he is best suited to pitch in the seventh or eighth inning going forward, not as the man asked to lock down the final three outs.
That leaves Tony Vitello with a decision that has only gotten harder with each missed chance. The Giants can keep trying to mix and match, but the ninth inning keeps producing the same result, and the margin for error is shrinking.
