SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Camilo Doval understands where he stands in the bullpen’s pecking order.
He’s no longer the San Francisco Giants’ closer; that role currently belongs to Ryan Walker. He’s not team’s primary setup man either; that designation goes to Tyler Rogers. Doval experienced the nadir of his major-league career last year. The Giants, though, are maintaining their confidence.
“When you get humbled, you have to look at things a little differently and I think he does,” said manager Bob Melvin. “He’s a talented guy. He’s been an All-Star. He’s been a closer most of his career. Things flip around during the course of the season. We just want him to pitch well, and if he does that, he’s going to be one of the back three.”
To echo Melvin’s sentiments, the game, indeed, provided a humbling.
A first-time All-Star in 2023, Doval never consistently displayed the form last season that made him one of baseball’s best relievers. Doval posted a career-worst 4.88 ERA over 59 innings and blew five saves en route to losing the closer role midway through the season, his 23 saves being the fewest he’s recorded since becoming a full-time closer.
The single-most alarming issue was, without question, the walks. Doval’s 5.95 walks per nine innings wasn’t just a career-worst for Doval, but the worst mark in all of baseball. Doval walked at least one batter in half of his 62 appearances and walked two batters on eight occasions.
The overall stats were one thing. The individual lows were another.
On Fathers Day, Doval inherited an 11-run, ninth-inning lead but allowed four runs and recorded one out. Upon being pulled, Doval threw a cooler in the dugout.
In his last outing before the All-Star Break, he blew a save on an afternoon where Blake Snell flirted with a perfect game.
On Aug. 8, Doval allowed three ninth-inning runs to the Washington Nationals and blew his fifth save. The next day, Doval lost his closer job and was optioned to the minors in one fell swoop, paving the way for Walker to become the team’s new ninth-inning man.
The worst season of Doval’s career coincided with his first year of arbitration eligibility, leading to rumors that the Giants could potentially trade Doval in the offseason. President of baseball operations Buster Posey went out of his way to shut down those talks during the Winter Meetings, saying that he was “bullish” on Doval being back. With Doval firmly part of San Francisco’s bullpen plans, the 27-year-old will have an opportunity to prove he can still be an effective reliever.
“My main objective is work really hard, give my 100% like I always have and try to help the team,” Doval said through team interpreter Erwin Higueros.
As bad as last year went, Melvin said Doval is entering camp with a good mindset. Melvin expressed confidence in Doval’s talents, and his fellow high-leverage relievers did the same.
“That right arms you plenty of confidence as well,” Rogers said. “Everybody knows bullpens are volatile. … Every bullpen guy can look at a season and go, ‘If I didn’t have those two outings, I’d have had a great year. That’s everybody. Sometimes, when you look at some of the numbers, they can be skewed one way or the other. But we all have confidence in Camilo this year.”
“Everybody’s going to have bad years. I don’t think much of it,” Walker said. “You can’t look at a guy and define him by one year. He’s been solid his whole career.”
There’s plenty of reason for Melvin, Rogers and Walker to think Doval is primed for a rebound. Rogers, in particular, pointed to the first three years of Doval’s career, a stretch from 2021-23 where the right-hander had a 2.77 ERA with 204 strikeouts over 162 1/3 innings, converting 69 saves in 83 opportunities.
Doval’s underlying metrics remain promising as well. Despite the poor walk rate, Doval finished in the 87th percentile of strikeout percentage (28.8%), 95th percentile of whiff rate (34.3%) and 96th percentile of expected batting average (.187). He maintains elite fastball velocity (97.6 mph) and his slider is still an above-average pitch (.184 batting average, .272 slugging percentage).
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The biggest key for Doval this season will be getting his walk rate down to a manageable place. Before walking nearly six batters per nine innings in 2024, Doval walked 3.60 batters per nine innings from 2021-23 — still below average but nowhere near the worst in the sport.
“For him, the results will be in the zone,” said special instructor Yusmeiro Petit. “He has to show the hitter he can be in the zone early in the count. That’s really key for him.”
Along with cutting down walks, Melvin believes the keys for Doval will be getting ahead in counts, being less predictable with his slider and being quicker to the plate out of the stretch. On Friday morning, Doval practiced pickoffs to first base after his bullpen session, firing accurate throws into an awaiting L-screen.
“Yeah, last year wasn’t his best, but he’s worked on things he needs to work on, I’m sure, and he’s going to be great this year,” Walker said. “He’s going to be back to where he normally is.”
Doval normally is, of course, in the closer’s role. While there are no plans for Doval to take on those responsibilities anytime soon, he stands to take on a late-inning leverage role behind Rogers and Walker. With Doval in the seventh, Rogers in the eighth and Walker in the ninth, the backend of San Francisco’s bullpen could very well become one of baseball’s best.
“It’s a great three to have,” Melvin said.
