http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/663 Recent articles about Tyler Walker en-us The Tampa Bay (Don't Call Us Devil) Rays just got finished beating up on the Yankees taking the series 3-to-1. The win keeps Tampa a full game ahead in first place, and dropped New York into last in the AL East. So is this a changing of the guard? Several young pitchers made terrific starts including Chad Billingsley, Mike Pelfrey, and Aaron Laffey, and Jose Valverde continues his May dominance. Fri, 16 May 2008 13:57:03 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267700 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267700 If you live outside of California, you may know that the Giants and Padres are duking it out for last place in the NL West, but what you probably don't know is that both teams have lost their last 5 consecutive games. San Francisco is 9 games behind the Dbacks and San Diego is 11 games back — and neither team has been able to stop their skid. The Giants have actually had some shining moments, but have been extremely unlucky. Last night the Phillies scored 3 runs in the top of the 8th off Tyler Walker, who was sweating like a pig on tv as he gave up 3 runs. Walker's profuse sweating reminded me of Jason Giambi on a hot summer night. The Giants bullpen has been horrific for the most part. The Giants hit the ball well off Cole Hamels, scoring 4 earned runs, but all hope was lost after after Walker let a tie game turn into a 7-4 deficit in the 8th. Tomorrow, there's hope that Tim Lincecum will turn things around for the Giants, but I'm not as optimistic about the 42 year old Greg Maddux for San Diego. Sat, 10 May 2008 13:06:59 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265485 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265485 It would have been sweet for my kid's first game to have been Cain's first no-no. Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:41:48 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/236494 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/236494 These Giants will have you sweating it out all season Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:23:57 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/234298 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/234298 Tim Lincecum gives Giants fans reason for hope. As does...(whispers)...Bengie Molina. Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:49:16 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/233212 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/233212 Etch a player in your Kitchen Table and I promise you will not forget to watch them in the spring.As the days go by this Column will be UPDATED..so continue to come back Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:38:02 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/133267 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/133267 As the Beerleaguer puts it, "When it comes to free agent relievers, there's an unusually high level of rubbish this winter." This list comes on the heels of the Phillies walking away from a Joe Borowski signing after he and his bum shoulder failed to impress doctors during a physical. He's not the only one on this list that has an injury history or may be on the downside of his career. If your team needs to acquire bullpen help this winter, a trade might be the best option. Fri, 01 Dec 2006 18:05:37 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6010 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6010 I'll bet the Devil Rays didn't think it would be this difficult to replace Danys Baez and his 41 saves when they traded him this offseason. Walker had done a decent job, converting 10-12 save opps, but he was far from great while doing it. He finishes the season with a 7.11 ERA and 1.54 WHIP. Let's recap. Chad Orvella's meltdown landed him in Triple-A. Dan Micelli's ineffectiveness forced manager Joe Madden to take him out of the closer's role and now Tyler Walker is done for the year (and longer). Shawn Camp and Brian Meadows appear to be the last two standing. Each has four saves, but it looks like Meadows is the closer of choice at the moment, having received and closed out 4 of the last 5 Tampa save opportunities. Meadows is a below average middle reliever, having chewed up more than 70 innings in each of the last three seasons for the Pirates. The bad news is that In only one of those years did he have an ERA of under 4.6 (3.57 in '04). His ERA this year stands at 4.5. If Meadows and Camp falter, which is likely, there have been rumors that Seth Mcclung could be transitioned into the closer's role. McClung has a fastball that occasionally hits 100 MPH on the gun (having accomplished this 11 times last in 2005, 3rd most in the AL). He has a decent curve, but has struggled to locate his other pitches as a starter this season and the thought is his skill set may be better served in a relief role (shorter outings and can concentrate on his two best pitches as most RP's do). Despite his rocky first half, he could be a very interesting option late in games if given the chance. Thu, 06 Jul 2006 06:32:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/509 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/509 Seems like a little bit of an open competition for saves in TB after Miceli was placed on the DL. Walker got the save on Sunday, if you have room on your bench, might want to try and pick him up and watch how the situation develops. Orvella, who was the closer before Miceli got lit up yesterday against the Mariners. Wed, 10 May 2006 02:47:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/127 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/127