It’s been a long road, but Ryan Walker has finally reached the majors.
The Arlington High School graduate made his major-league debut on May 21 when he pitched in relief for the San Francisco Giants in their 7-5 victory over the Miami Marlins.
Walker, a 2014 graduate of Arlington, was drafted by the Giants in the 31st round of the 2018 draft out of Washington State University, where he pitched four years. Since then the right-hander gradually made his way up the minor-league ladder, including surviving the 2020 season that was lost to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent minor-league contraction.
Walker began this season in Triple-A, his second season at the highest minor-league level. In 15 games with the Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League he was 1-0 with a 0.89 ERA, walking eight and striking out 23 in 20.1 innings before getting the call on May 19.
Walker made his major-league debut two days later, pitching a scoreless inning of relief and picking up the win in a 7-5 victory over Miami at San Francisco’s Oracle Park.
Through Monday Walker had pitched six times for the Giants and been scored upon just once. In 7.2 innings he had one walk, eight strikeouts and a 1.17 ERA.
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