At the 2025 trade deadline, the bullpen was one very obvious spot for the Yankees to upgrade. Well, the team’s front office certainly tried, making a few trades to bring in pieces to stabilize the relief corps. However, flash forward to a season plus after that trade deadline, and only one of those players ended up sticking. That was David Bednar, who is now a free agent and may also possibly depart.
Of those 2025 bullpen moves, the one that flamed out the hardest was Camilo Doval.
Grade: F
2026 Statistics
(with Yankees): 44 games, 39.2 innings pitched, 4.54 ERA, 4.61 FIP, 3.86 xFIP, 21.9 K%, 10.1 BB%, -0.1 fWAR, -0.8 rWAR
2027 Contract Status: Entering final year of arbitration eligibility with Giants
Post-2025 trade, Doval struggled to the tune of a 4.82 ERA and a 4.10 FIP in 18.2 innings. However, a lot of that damage came right after Doval was traded. He ended his regular season by having six-straight scoreless outings, allowing just one hit and two walks in that time. Following that, he looked pretty solid in his handful of postseason outings. After all that, there was reason to hope that after getting a full spring training with Matt Blake and company that Doval could iron out the issues that plagued him right after the deal.
To start 2026, Doval then threw three scoreless outings. The only runner that reached base against him came via a José Caballero error. But the two outings after that saw him allow a total of four runs while recording just three outs, including one blown save against the Marlins.
Things never truly got back on track for Doval after that. Sure, he had his occasional scoreless and/or easy outings out of the ‘pen, but literally every reliever has those at some point, if they get enough chances. After those fourth and fifth games, Doval’s ERA was 10.80, despite a 1.00 FIP. He never got his ERA back under 4.00 again, and eventually his FIP came to be more in line — and eventually worse — than his ERA.
The final straw came over the course of July. In eight innings that month, Doval posted a 4.50 ERA and a 7.85 FIP, walking 11 of the 46 batters he faced. In his final game as a Yankee, he ended up conceding a blown save against the White Sox. (That being said, that one was more on Ali Sánchez’s brain fart, making an error on a needless pickoff throw to third when the Yankees needed just one out to seal a victory.) On August 1st, the Yankees finally gave up on the Doval experiment, shipping him to the Pirates in exchange for two low level prospects.
In Pittsburgh, Doval did pitch better, with a 3.79 ERA and a 3.73 FIP in 19 innings. However, that apparently wasn’t good enough for the Pirates either. While they could’ve kept him around on a cheap-ish arbitration deal next season or even just non tendered him after 2026, Pittsburgh just decided to designate Doval for assignment in September.
After that, Doval returned to the Giants team he came up with and threw two scoreless innings to close out his 2026. As mentioned, he still has one more arbitration year left, so the Giants could opt to keep him and see if they can figure their former closer out, but we shall see.
Even at his best, Doval could always be a little erratic, especially in the walks department. In New York, we never really got to see anything close to his best, and frankly I’m glad I don’t have to watch him on my team anymore. Sorry, Camilo.
See more of the Yankees Roster Report Card series here.
