The Giants’ 27-year-old reliever lost his command and then lost his closer role in a disappointing 2024 season
In 2023, San Francisco Giants closer Camilo Doval had a season full of achievements. He was selected to his first All-Star team, led the majors with 39 saves and 60 games finished, won his third Reliever of the Month award, and became the 8th Giants pitcher to get a win in the All-Star Game.
In 2024? Things didn’t go nearly as well.
The Giants went all-out before the season to upgrade the infrastructure for Doval’s entrances. They added spotlights, flashing LED lights, 523 new speakers, and 56 amplifiers to increase the drama of Doval’s relief appearances. While the entrances were full of more flashing lights and loud music, the real added drama came from Doval’s struggles on the mounds, often making ordinary save opportunities turn into gut-wrenching battles.
Doval’s ERA rose from 2.93 to 4.88. He walked 50% more batters in 8.2 fewer innings, nearly doubled his home run rate, and his FIP rose from 2.77 to 3.71. By August, he’d lost his closer role to Ryan Walker and even his spot on the major league roster. He was optioned to the Sacramento River Cats for a few weeks, returning as a middle reliever when rosters expanded.
There’s a number of factors. There’s been rumors from two different Giants coaching staffs that Doval is hard to coach, doesn’t watch film, doesn‘t want to make adjustments. He throws his slider way too much, and doesn’t seem to consistently hit the corners. Doval also still seems shook by the introduction of the pitch clock, even after two seasons of it being in use.
But there’s also simply a short shelf life of dominance for most closers. Whether it’s injury, the league figuring a guy out, or simply the variance inherent in a pitcher who throws 60-70 innings per year, the closer position is an inherently tenuous one, especially when a slump can result in multiple blown saves and losses for their team. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Giants employed three different primary closers during their World Series runs from 2010-14.
The Giants don’t think Doval is unsalvageable, or at least they think his incredible slider is worth a $4.525M deal for 2025. Plus, it’s a huge bargain compared to the multi-year, $50M deal they reportedly offered Doval last winter.
They now have all of spring training to convince Doval to throw a bigger variety of pitches. Perhaps J.P. Martinez will have more success getting through to Doval than his predecessors. Or maybe the decline will continue, and the fans of Sacramento will get to see even more major league closers this summer than they will at A’s games.