How SF Giants’ Doval got back to pitching with ‘joy’ ...Middle East

WASHINGTON D.C. — Camilo Doval didn’t feel any emotions in his return to Nationals Park. “None,” he said. But the story of Doval’s major-league career cannot be told without a mention of this venue.

On Aug. 8, 2024, Doval allowed three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to the Nationals at their home venue, blowing his fifth save of the year and ballooning his ERA to 4.70. He held his head in his hand as he walked off the field. The following day, the Giants didn’t just demote Doval from the closer role — they demoted him from the majors entirely.

On Friday night, Doval stepped on that same mound. He retired the side in the ninth, securing a win for San Francisco and shrinking his ERA to a crisp 1.16. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last 19 appearances, the longest such streak of his career.

He’s no longer the Giants’ closer — Ryan Walker holds that title — but following the nadir of his career, Doval once again looks the part of an excellent high-leverage reliever.

“It’s been really impressive to see,” said catcher Patrick Bailey. “It’s not an easy thing to go through whatsoever. Obviously, on the field is awesome. But I think more impressive is see him get back to himself in the locker room and off the field — seeing that smile that you would see in ‘23 and the joy. This game will beat the heck out of you sometimes. You could see that last year, but this year man, it’s been awesome to see him get back to himself.”

For Doval, returning to his old form meant embracing modified mechanics. Doval was “a little resistant to change” last season, according to pitching coach J.P. Martinez. This spring, Doval was much more receptive.

There were three main elements of Doval’s mechanics that he tightened up, all of which are intertwined: setup, leg kick and hand placement.

Regarding his setup, Martinez noticed in spring training that Doval was very closed off, so much so that they could see his entire name and jersey number from the first-base dugout at Scottsdale Stadium. Since Doval was so closed off, his natural inclination was to “open up” in his delivery, causing him to pull his pitches.

“He was getting around his fastball and cutting it more than he normally does,” Martinez said. “So, when we were looking back at some of his videos from 2023, his feet were a little closer at setup. They weren’t as far across.”

Doval also had a tendency to bring his hands up higher when he brought his leg up higher. When he kept his leg kick and hands lower, Martinez assessed he “had less of a tendency of close off a swing open.”

“I think he was more open (to adjustments) this year,” Martinez said. “I think that’s mostly because he’s matured as a player and a person, and not so much being in a good or bad headspace with performance.”

With those mechanical tweaks in tow, Doval has addressed last year’s primary weakness: free passes. Doval walked 14.4% of the batters he faced last year, the second-worst make among all relievers behind only Aroldis Chapman (14.7%). This year, he’s down to 9.3% — still below average, but far more manageable.

Doval’s pitch usage also looks fairly different as well. Last year, Doval threw his slider roughly half the time (51.5%), complimenting the breaking ball with his cutter (34.9%) and sinker (13.8%). This season, Doval continues to rely on his slider (53.5%) but has upped his cutter usage (44.2%) and nearly eliminated his sinker (2.3%).

There wasn’t an intentional decision to throw fewer sinkers. Rather, the reliance on the slider and cutter has been a result of those pitches being more effective — the slider possessing more depth and the cutter more vertical movement. Against the cutter, specifically, opponents are only hitting .038; by Run Value, it’s one of the most valuable cutters in baseball.

Doval’s average slider is generating more than an inch of additional horizontal movement compared to last year, going from 4.9 inches in ‘24 to 6.1 inches this year. He’s getting roughly the same amount of vertical movement with his cutter, but there are two key differences with that offering: his horizontal release point is closer to the rubber, and his extension to the plate is slightly longer.

“Like I always said: just trust myself,” Doval said through team interpreter Erwin Higueros. “When I go out there, I’m just playing catch. I trust God’s wishes, and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Added Bailey: “I feel like this year, he’s done a better job of getting the (vertical movement) back compared to last year. I feel like last year, he was pulling it and cutting it more. … I feel like he’s doing a really good job this year of keeping it towards the top of the zone.”

The most interesting wrinkle in Doval’s success this season is that he’s been effective with a noticeably lower strikeout rate.

Entering this season, Doval had a career strikeout rate just under 30%, but this year, he’s down to 23.3%. Opposing hitters aren’t generating consistent hard contact — Doval ranks in the 84th percentile of average exit velocity — but Doval’s .158 BABIP indicates he could be the recipient of some batted-ball luck.

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The strikeouts might be down, but the Giants will gladly take the scoreless innings he’s delivered over the last month and change.

“He has always been good,” said reliever Randy Rodríguez through Higueros. “Nobody has always asked him, ‘Why are you so good?’ He went to the All-Star Game and nobody questioned his ability, but the minute he failed to do something good, everybody wants to know, ‘What is your problem?’ Everybody goes through those bad ruts. He’s a good pitcher, and he’s been able to pitch to that level.”

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