In a surprising move in the last week of the season, the Pirates are cutting ties with one of their mid-season acquisitions.
The Pirates activated reliever Kirby Yates off the 15-day injured list on Tuesday and designated right-hander Camilo Doval for assignment.
Doval was acquired from the New York Yankees two days before the trade deadline. He pitched in some high-leverage situations during his two months in black and gold.
It wasn’t a failure of a tenure, but not a good one either. In 20 games, Doval
posted a 3.79 ERA but a 1.74 WHIP over 19 innings of baseball.
He struck out 23, but walked 13 batters and dealt with consistent control issues that plagued him in New York.
Doval has one year of club control remaining, and comes as a slight surprise that the Pirates moved on from him. Pittsburgh traded Double-A catcher/first baseman Omar Alfonzo to the Yankees for Doval, who ranks 28th in New York’s farm system, per MLB Pipeline.
It’s a sign the Pirates were willing to non-tender Doval later in the offseason, but moved past him faster than many expected.
He led the National League in saves (39) with the Giants in 2023, but has never regained the dominant form he found years ago in San Francisco.
The Pirates host the St. Louis Cardinals for the final home series of the year beginning Tuesday at 6:40 p.m.
