2025 stats (with SF Giants): 46.2 IP, 47 G, 3.09 ERA / 3.22 FIP, 1.20 WHIP, 26.2 K%, 12.6 BB%, 0.6 fWAR
2025 stats (overall): 65.1 IP, 69 G, 3.58 ERA / 3.47 FIP, 1.32 WHIP, 25.9%, 12.6 BB %, 0.6 fWAR
Camilo
Doval bounced back from an ugly 2024 season with the San Francisco Giants where he lost his closer role, then lost his place on the roster entirely, getting sent down to AAA late in the season. Doval lowered his walk rate from 5.9 BB/9 to 4.6 BB/9, cut his home run rate in half, and lowered his ERA from 4.88 to 3.09. Ultimately, it didn’t feel like the Giants believed in the improvement, or the pitcher anymore.
Doval got his job back early in the season when incumbent closer Ryan Walker hurt his back, opening the door for Doval to get a save in the third game of the season. He had three straight perfect outings before yielding six runs in his next three appearances, picking up two blown saves, a loss — and an unearned win. Still, from April 8 to May 13, Doval gave up only one hit, and he didn’t give up another run until June 3. After saving a game against the Miami Marlins June 1, Doval had a 1.04 ERA and seven saves.
But when he got to June 21, the wheels came off. Doval gave up nine runs in his next five appearances. On June 25, the Giants’ 9th inning comeback was ruined when Doval gave up four runs in the top of the 10th. July 2, he gave up a two-run home run in the 9th inning to Ketel Marte to blow a save, but picked up the win in the 10th.
That might have been the last straw for the Giants, who were busy watching their own wheels come off after the All-Star break. They may not have raised the white flag entirely at the end of July, but they at least cautiously lifted it up and wiggled it around. Doval and Tyler Rogers departed the bullpen, and longtime outfield Mike Yastrzemski was sent to the Kansas City Royals that week.
The New York Yankees acquired Doval at the trade deadline for a package of four minor leaguers headlined by C/3B Jesus Rodriguez, the Yankees’ No. 11 prospect. It wasn’t a terrible return but not a great one, especially since Doval won’t hit free agency until after the 2027 season. Perhaps they thought it was the best they could do before Doval’s value dropped again.
While Doval improved his control from 2024, he was still walking batters at the second-highest rate of his big league career. At the same time, he was striking hitters out at by far the lowest rate of his MLB career. He was essentially a two-pitch pitcher, throwing a 98 MPH cutter and his famous 89 MPH slider, almost completely abandoning his sinker, which he threw 7.9% of the time. The slider was good. The cutter was not, with Doval losing spin and horizontal movement on the pitch, which he threw 45% of the time, 10% more often than last season.
That goes a long way to explaining how Doval cut his walks and his strikeouts, because the slider is his most effective pitch, but he has trouble locating it in the strike zone. He keeps the cutter in the strike zone more effectively, but batters don’t swing at it and miss as much — a 16.2% whiff rate on the cutter, compared to 41.1% for the slider.
After Doval went to the Yankees, he didn’t pitch great. He had a 4.82 ERA in 18.2 IP, giving up 19 hits and 11 walks. The ERA didn’t reflect just how bad things went, since Doval gave up four unearned runs in those appearances. In the playoffs, the Yankees didn’t use Doval at all in the first round, but in Game 1 of the Division Series, Doval retired all six batters he faced in a 2-0 game, though the Yankees would go on to lose 10-1. He pitched 3.1 innings, gave up one run, and struck out one.
Of course, the Giants also lost some games due to their lack of reliable relief pitching after the trade. They probably couldn’t have anticipated Randy Rodriguez tearing his UCL tendon, but they also didn’t anticipate getting back to the fringes of the wild-card race either.
Doval’s slider is still excellent, but his cutter is increasingly hittable. and he won’t throw the other pitches. That, coupled with the frequent rumors that Doval is hard to coach seems to have made the Giants cash in on their Doval stock, maybe not at its height, but before the bottom fell out. He gave the Giants a lot over the years, but it was time for both sides to move on.
