2023 stats: 5-3, 61.1 IP, 3.23 ERA/3.68 FIP, 1.39 WHIP, 78-24 K-BB, 81.8% LOB, 0.6 fWAR
It was a big year for Ryan Walker. He became a father and he became one of the steadiest arms in a fairly dominant San Francisco Giants bullpen in 2023. Among my favorite notes about his season is that he opened enough games (13) to throw off FanGraphs’ starter/reliever measure, a situation that befell John Brebbia in 2022 when we all agreed that he was the next-best reliever in the pen after Camilo Doval.
That’s not quite the case with Ryan Walker after making his debut in his age-27 season, but it does reflect just how far in his career’s journey he traveled in just six months.