The SF Giants traded closer Camilo Doval to the New York Yankees right before the trade deadline on Thursday. In his first outing with New York, he blew the save which is not the best way to ingratiate yourself to the notoriously hostile New York fanbase.
In his Yankees debut, Doval came in to try and shut the door against the Miami Marlins with a two-run lead. He did not get the job done, blowing the save by allowing three earned runs on two hits and one walk while only recording one out in the 9th.
Camilo Doval blows first save of post-SF Giants career
It was a rough day in general for New York’s new bullpen arms. Collectively, Doval, David Bednar, and Jake Bird allowed nine earned runs in the game against the Marlins. That is sure to make Yankees fans furious.
Of course, it is just one game but Doval’s Yankees career could not have gotten off to a worse start. Doval has always been notoriously calm on the mound, but even the coolest of customers can crack under the pressure that comes with playing for a team like the Yankees.
Now on the season, Doval has a 3.26 ERA and has converted 15 of his 20 save opportunities. 2025 has largely been a bounce back season for Doval after he struggled in 2024 and lost the closer role while also being demoted briefly to Triple-A, but his last 15 games have been rough as he has a 6.14 ERA across those outings.
After trading Doval and Tyler Rogers, San Francisco’s bullpen looks a lot different. Rogers was their reliable eighth inning man and Doval was their guy in the ninth but with both now gone they have to adjust.
San Francisco’s first game with a new bullpen configuration went much better as Ryan Walker pitched a scoreless ninth inning and Randy Rodríguez came in and got the save against the New York Mets in the bottom of the tenth inning in his first game as the team’s closer.
We will see how this trade pans out in the long-term, but after one day Giants fans can feel good about how things went with Rodríguez coming up clutch to end the team’s six-game losing streak while Doval had a rough go of it in his Yankees debut.
