When the Yankees used the final minutes of the 2025 trade deadline to swing a deal for Camilo Doval, they hoped they were adding a dominant pitcher to their bullpen.
They also knew they could be acquiring an erratic one.
Doval was both during his tenure as the Giants’ closer, saving 39 games with a 2.93 ERA and a 31.0 K% during an All-Star 2023 campaign but posting a 4.20 ERA and a 13.5 BB% over the last two seasons. The Yankees were introduced to the flamethrowing righty’s lesser half first after sending prospects Jesús Rodríguez, Trystan Vrieling, Parks Harber and Carlos De La Rosa to San Francisco, as Doval, working as a middle reliever and setup man, allowed 10 earned runs and nine walks over his first 16 games with the Yankees.
Doval’s initial struggles resulted in an August meeting with Aaron Boone and Marlon Abreu, the Yankees’ Spanish interpreter. During that meeting, Boone communicated his expectations for and belief in Doval. Around the same time, the 28-year-old pitcher told reporters that he was having a tough time adjusting to his new role, which required him to enter games sooner and more on the fly than a closer has to.
With some tweaks to his routine made, Doval finished the regular season on a strong note, tallying six straight scoreless outings before logging two more in the playoffs. While Doval did allow a run in his final postseason appearance, the Yankees were encouraged by his end-of-year performance.
“I really feel good about where he was at the end of the season and into the playoffs,” Boone said during the Winter Meetings. “I felt like he had some of his best outings for us at the very end, and into the postseason.”
Now the Yankees are hoping Doval’s last few games can serve as a building block for next season, when the club will need him at his best in the late innings. David Bednar is set to close for the club, but Doval, who throws a 100-mph cutter, will be in the setup mix if he can consistently command his electric stuff.
Boone added that Doval made some adjustments in how he gets set on the mound and “cleaned” up his mechanics in a way that got him in a better position to throw strikes. The Yankees are betting that those changes will help Doval next season.
A potential appearance in the World Baseball Classic could as well, as Doval’s 2023 season, the best of his career, began with him pitching for the Dominican Republic in the high-intensity tournament.
Either way, the Yankees will need Doval to be his best self in 2026, as he is poised to take on greater responsibility in the bullpen. He has shown that he can do that in the past, as Doval had a 2.77 ERA from 2021-2023.
“I know just in talking to our pitching guys, it seems like he’s had a really good, efficient winter in terms of communication and throwing program and getting himself ready to go,” Boone said. “So I’m really optimistic on what Camilo is going to do for us, just based on how we were able to finish with him and from what I’m hearing about his winter so far.”
