SF Giants’ bullpen, already best in MLB, could get even better. Here’s why.

SAN FRANCISCO The Giants began Tuesday tied for the major-league lead with a ERA from their relievers but subtract all the runs allowed by their closer a title typically reserved for the best of the bunch and the number sparkles even more The season has not started the way Ryan Walker envisioned but there s reason to believe his fortunes are turning Why s that He s turning less Just being crossbody being on time is even more crucial The slightest bit of over-rotation can really throw it off Walker commented referencing his unique motion that can make it look like the ball is going to go toward the third-base dugout The adjustment makes being on time a lot easier Now we can be in the zone a little easier too It never ended up in the dugout but it had often seemed like Walker wasn t sure where his pitches were going for much of the season s first six weeks He walked batters and allowed earned runs all of last season finishing the year with a ERA in innings but when he took the mound Wednesday against the Diamondbacks had already surrendered earned runs in innings of work Walker recorded a scoreless inning but issued two more free passes bringing his total to seven or per nine innings the highest rate of his career and almost double the bases on balls per nine innings he gave up in I was still in my mind about how something s got to change Walker revealed The next day we figured it out and obviously it played well I felt like I was back to myself again The two appearances since have been Walker s the bulk effective of the season requiring only seven pitches to retire the Athletics in order to secure two of their wins over the weekend sweep All it takes to see the difference is to look at Walker s stance as he comes set in either competition My landing leg was further out and my torso was more rotated toward the plate Walker explained of his out-of-whack mechanics We just kind of nixed that and just mimicked what I did last year A bit more straight-on with the plate in my set up so that when I come up I m not rotating so much There are so a multitude of moving parts in Walker s torquing delivery that one cog out of place can throw the whole thing off When it came time to release the ball this year his arm so far behind his body that getting on time from back here is virtually impossible I was looking at video of last year You can see when I m about to release the ball my chest is facing home plate and my arm is either in line with my body or out in front This year my arm s way back here Walker disclosed stretching his right arm behind his head Walker assumed the closer s role from Camilo Doval midway through last season and manager Bob Melvin stuck with him even as the flamethrowing former closer and the rest of the relief corps got off to blistering starts this season In need of big outs late in competition Melvin can confidently call on any one of Doval ERA Tyler Rogers Randy Rodriguez or Erik Miller the group s lone lefty The numbers speak for themselves Melvin announced We have a lot of confidence in those guys When we have a lead and we go to our bullpen we feel like we re in pretty good shape And now Melvin s list of options includes one more high-leverage reliever Jordan Hicks who struggled in his time as a starter but has a long track record as one of the competition s best short-burst pitchers racking up career saves and a ERA out of the bullpen Hicks made his first relief appearance of the season in Monday s - loss surrendering a run on two hits and a walk but explained afterward that he was working on particular things That was evident by his pitch mix which featured a heavier dose of four-seamers that usual for the sinkerballer Hicks hadn t thrown more than four-seamers in any his six starts this season but used it times in pitches in his return to the bullpen He disclosed to expect more of the same as he attempts to replicate his arsenal from when he posted a ERA in appearances for the Cardinals and Blue Jays the last time he was a full-time reliever Related Articles Mitty s Kris Bubic flirts with no-hit bid in Royals - win over SF Giants David Villar s time with SF Giants likely nearing an end after second DFA Verlander has concerning outing but Heliot Ramos comes through for SF Giants How Hayden Birdsong Jordan Hicks reacted to SF Giants rotation swap SF Giants Flores delivers walk-off walk in th inning to beat A s Getting back to that is going to take a little bit of time he announced It s more of a high-velocity pitch If I don t have it at like - mph it s not as effective as you saw on the previous day Once it creeps up and I get it into the zone I feel like it ll be a better pitch He topped out at mph and believes there is more in the tank as the past three or four days I ve been really chucking it trying to get the velocity up so I had a little bit of fatigue Overall Hicks disclosed of his return to the bullpen I didn t hate it Melvin made sure to give Hicks a soft landing with the Giants already trailing - when he took over to begin the ninth and noted he just sought him to get peaceful in his new role I m a little bit surprised he got hit as hard as he did throwing or whatever it was Melvin disclosed The more he s out there the more he s out there in the bullpen I think you ll start to see more strikeouts