The Pirates’ Camilo Doval move looked shaky when they made it. After one inning back in San Francisco, it looks a whole lot uglier.
Pittsburgh landed Doval from the New York Yankees on Aug. 1, sending catcher Omar Alfonzo and outfielder Luis Cruz to New York along with cash considerations for the reliever. At the time, Alfonzo ranked as the Pirates’ No. 17 prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
Less than two months later, Pittsburgh designated Doval for assignment. Two days after that, the Giants claimed him off waivers for nothing. Then came his first appearance back in a San Francisco uniform, and he immediately punched out Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Dalton Rushing in order.
Doval needed just 16 pitches to carve through the Dodgers’ heart of the order. He hit 99.5 mph, leaned on his slider and looked an awful lot like the pitcher who had once grown into an All-Star closer for the Giants.
Camilo Doval just struck out the side in his first inning back in an #SFGiants uniform 🥹 pic.twitter.com/5cPo7nCz1I
- SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 26, 2026
That one inning doesn’t turn the Pirates’ decision into some disaster involving a future Hall of Famer. Doval really was uneven in Pittsburgh.
Over 20 appearances and 19 innings, he posted a 3.79 ERA and walked 14 batters. The late-inning weapon the Pirates thought they were getting never really showed up.
But that’s exactly why the trade stings. Pittsburgh gave up prospect capital for a pitcher it believed it could fix.
The idea was straightforward enough: Doval had the power stuff, and the Pirates thought their pitching group could help him sort out the mechanics and pitch mix issues that might get him back to the form that produced 39 saves for San Francisco in 2023. Instead, the results never settled in, and Pittsburgh moved on after less than eight weeks.
Doval’s own words after Saturday’s outing only sharpened the point. After bouncing around organizations and working with four different pitching groups over the last two seasons, he said the constant adjustments had gotten in the way.
“I’ve realized that you always have to be yourself,” Doval said after Saturday's outing. He explained that trying to change the way he pitched contributed to his inconsistency.
That’s a rough line for the Pirates to hear, considering they acquired him expecting exactly that kind of tinkering to pay off.
The Giants, meanwhile, were already talking about using more of Doval’s slider before he even took the mound again. Pitching coach Justin Meccage - the former Pirates bullpen coach they fired in 2024 - called Doval’s stuff “electric,” and Doval has made it clear he wants to stay in San Francisco.
None of that guarantees the rebound lasts. Doval could walk three hitters the next time out and leave this whole thing looking different. His control problems didn’t vanish because he put on a Giants jersey again.
Still, the broad picture is already ugly for Pittsburgh. The Pirates gave up two prospects for a reliever they couldn’t stabilize, couldn’t flip for value and couldn’t even carry through the end of the season. San Francisco, the team that originally traded Doval to the Yankees in 2025 and received four prospects, got him back 14 months later without giving up a player.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, ended up as the club that paid prospect capital to rent him for 20 appearances.
And then it had to watch his first inning back in San Francisco end with Betts, Ohtani and Rushing going down one after another.
In Other News...
Konnor Griffin Just Gave Pirates Fans A Real Reason To Believe
Konnor Griffins rookie year gave the Pirates something they have been waiting a long time to see: a player who looked ready for the spotlight even while the season was still taking shape. Injuries limited his playing time, but the flashes were impossible to miss, and he finished 2026 with a strong showing that included a leadoff home run and an RBI single as Pittsburgh wrapped up its first winning season since 2018.
The bigger takeaway for the Pirates is not just what Griffin did in one game, but what he represented across the year, a young player showing promise and maturity while the organization tried to build something lasting. Pittsburgh already made its long-term bet by signing him to a nine-year contract, and now the real intrigue is whether this encouraging first step is the start of a much larger turnaround. [Read more 🡒]
Bryan Reynolds Quietly Became A Huge Part Of Pittsburgh's Turnaround
Bryan Reynolds 2026 season ended up looking a lot bigger than the quiet way it unfolded. The Pirates outfielder led Major League Baseball with 40 doubles, a career high and the most by any Pittsburgh player in a single season, giving him a stat line that stood out even in a year when the club finally put together its first winning season during his tenure.
Reynolds finished two doubles ahead of Bostons Wilyer Abreu, and the total placed him seventh in a Pirates season in the 21st century and 16th all-time in franchise history. For a team that has spent years searching for steady offensive anchors, that kind of production from Reynolds matters because it speaks to both consistency and impact, even if it did not always arrive with much noise attached. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Fixed One Problem But Lefties Still Exposed A Bigger One
The Pirates took a clear step forward offensively in 2026, finishing sixth in runs scored and batting average, a notable change for a club that had spent too much recent time searching for even league-average production. For one season at least, they looked more capable of stringing together real offense, with the lineup showing more balance and a better overall approach than it had in years past.
The bigger issue never really went away, though, because left-handed pitching still gave Pittsburgh trouble and left the lineup looking vulnerable in the matchups that tend to matter most over a full season. That is why the next round of roster building has to be more specific than simply waiting on internal answers, since the Pirates need right-handed power and bench options who can punish lefties, not just the hope that Konnor Griffin and Rafael Flores Jr. can eventually cover the gap. [Read more 🡒]