Camilo Doval’s return to San Francisco didn’t take long to announce itself.
One day after the Giants claimed the right-hander off waivers, he was already in a high-leverage spot against the Dodgers on Saturday, and Tony Vitello wasted no time throwing him into the fire. Doval entered in the seventh inning and was handed the middle of Los Angeles’ lineup, with Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani waiting. He answered by striking out the side.
The sequence had plenty of drama, starting with Betts. Doval ran the count to 2-2, then came back with an 87.9 mph slider on the inside left corner. The plate umpire originally ruled it a ball, but Andrew Knizner challenged the call and the ABS system overturned it for strike three.
Ohtani followed and never put the ball in play. Doval got him to swing through a 1-2 slider at 88.7 mph that finished at the bottom left-hand portion of the plate against the left-handed hitter.
Dalton Rushing made the inning the toughest one. Doval jumped ahead 0-2, but Rushing extended the at-bat by fouling off a 99 mph cutter.
After three straight balls, Doval finished him with an 88.2 mph slider on the outside corner at the knees. The umpire called it a ball, Knizner challenged again, and ABS reversed the ruling for the third out.
It was Doval’s first work in a week. His previous outing came Sept. 19 for the Pittsburgh Pirates against Kansas City, when he allowed four hits and two runs over one inning while striking out two.
The Giants signed Doval as a teenager out of the Dominican Republic in 2015, and before last season’s trade to the New York Yankees, San Francisco was the only organization he had known. He became the Giants’ closer in 2022 and was an All-Star in 2023, going 6-6 with a 2.93 ERA and 39 saves in 47 chances while holding hitters to a .209 average.
His time with the Yankees last season was much rougher: 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA and one save in three chances. He began this season in New York before the deadline deal to Pittsburgh. On the year, he is 3-2 with a 4.22 ERA, eight holds and a save in six chances.
For both sides, the fit is obvious. Doval wants to stay.
The Giants need bullpen help in 2027. And if Saturday was any indication, San Francisco may have found exactly the kind of return it was hoping for.
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