BIOGRAPHY
Camilo Doval was born July 4, 1997, in Yamasa, Dominican Republic. He is a pitcher in the MLB.
Doval signed with the San Francisco Giants as an international free agent in 2015, for a signing bonus of $100,000, as a shortstop. Doval pitched in the Giants minor league system from 2016 to 2019, reaching as high as the advanced Single-A San Jose Giants. He was a 2018 MiLB.com Organization All-Star. He was a 2019 CAL Mid-Season All-Star.
Doval did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Giants added him to their 40-man roster after the 2020 season.
On April 16, 2021, Doval was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut on April 18, pitching a scoreless inning of relief with 2 strikeouts against the Miami Marlins.
In September 2021 he became the second Giants pitcher since Statcast started tracking in 2008 to throw a pitch faster than 102 mph, joining Brian Wilson. That same month, he became the youngest Giants pitcher, at 24 years and three months old, to record a save since Rod Beck in 1992. Doval was named the National League Reliever of the Month for September/October after throwing 14.1 scoreless innings. He struck out 20 and walked only three batters in those appearances, and by the end was serving as the team's closer.
In the 2021 regular season with the Giants, Doval was 5–1 with three saves and a 3.00 ERA. In 29 relief appearance he pitched 27 innings in which he struck out 37 batters, averaging 6.3 hits and 12.3 strikeouts per 9 innings with a 1.037 WHIP. His average fastball velocity of 98.6 mph was in the fastest 1% in MLB.
In the post-season, Doval threw a scoreless ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 4–0 win in Game 1 of the 2021 National League Division Series. He next pitched two perfect innings to save the Giants 1–0 win over the Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLDS. He became the first rookie to have a two-plus inning save in the postseason without allowing a baserunner since saves became an official statistic in 1969. It extended his scoreless streak to 19.1 innings, in which he allowed 8 hits, walked 3, and struck out 25.
The 2022 season was Doval's first full season in the major leagues, and his first full season as the Giants' closer. He was 6–6 with 27 saves (6th in the NL) in 30 save opportunities, a 2.53 ERA in 68 relief appearances (6th) and 51 games finished (2nd), and in 67.2 innings struck out 80 batters. His average fastball velocity of 99 mph was in the fastest 1% in MLB.
His four-seam fastball reaches 104 mph, and he also throws a high-80s hard slider and an occasional change-up. In the middle of the 2022 season, Doval added a sinker averaging in the high-90s to his pitch repertoire. He throws from a very low, nearly sidearm arm slot. He relied primarily on his 88 mph slider (against which batters hit .154), 99 mph cutter, and 98 mph sinker.
He was again named the NL Reliever of the Month for September.
His fastball reaches 102 mph, and he also throws a slider.
