Despite their entire offensive output being two first-inning runs, it looked like the San Francisco Giants would escape Game 1 of the doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday, April 30, with a win. Then, the ninth inning happened.
After Erik Miller retired the heart of the Philadelphia lineup in order in the eighth inning, Ryan Walker took the mound in the ninth. Things quickly went south for the San Francisco reliever.
The Phillies recorded three hits against Walker, winning the game on a two-out infield single from J. P. Crawford.
While Ryan Walker Pitched Into Bad Luck, He Never Looked Comfortable
If we’re going to be completely fair, we must mention that two of the hits Walker surrendered were infield hits. But while that might suggest that Walker was unlucky, this blown save can’t be entirely attributed to bad luck.
First off, when a reliever enters a game, one thing he must do is throw strikes. Yet, Walker’s first two offerings to Adolis García missed badly.
Walker, in fact, should have fallen behind 3-0 to García but his 2-0 pitch was incorrectly called a strike and the Phillies were out of ABS challenges. That good fortune became moot one pitch later when García reached on an infield single.
Additionally, while García’s hit didn’t leave the infield, it wasn’t an exceptionally lucky hit, either. García made solid contact, which only avoided going to the outfield because of a diving stop from Luis Arráez.
It only got worse from there for Walker and the Giants. Walker did strike the next hitter, Brandon Marsh, out. The Phillies, though, tied the game on an RBI triple from Bryson Stott. Stott was then stranded at third when Edmundo Sosa grounded out for the second out of the inning, but Crawford legged out a two-out infield single to bring Stott home and end the game.
The blown save in Philadelphia was the latest struggle in a season that’s been uneven for Walker.
Walker Is Struggling in Some Key Areas
Before the blown save in Philadelphia, Walker sported an unspectacular but respectable 3.00 ERA. On the surface, a closer with a 3.00 ERA blowing a save where two of the three hits he allowed didn’t leave the infield may not seem too alarming. But a deeper look into Walker’s 2026 numbers paints a different picture.
The biggest red flag with Walker is that he too often lives up to his name. Walker has issued six free passes in 12.2 innings pitched. And while Walker didn’t walk any Phillies hitters, he did fall behind both García and Stott.
99.9% of the time? 99.99999% of the time? Or 100% of the time?
Even without walking a Phillies hitter, Walker still sports an ugly 4.3 BB/9 rate in 2026. Of course, we’re still early enough in the season that a bad outing can throw a relief pitcher’s numbers off kilter. That said, control has often been an issue for Walker. His career BB/9 now sits at 2.8, a number that’s particularly problematic since, for the standards of modern relief pitchers, Walker is not a high strikeout guy.
In 2025, he struck out 60 hitters in 61.1 innings. Through Thursday’s blown save, he has 13 strikeouts in 12.2 innings in 2026. A reliever striking out roughly a hitter an inning is certainly not going to turn many heads.
Thursday’s blown save was Walker’s second of the season. He’s also struggled in games he eventually saved. Sure, some of his poor numbers, like a 4.26 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, can be partially attributed to a small sample size. But a relief pitcher who struggles with his control and doesn’t strike hitters out at a high rate is not going to be saved when the sample size gets bigger.
Giants Reliever’s Struggles Getting Harder To Ignore