Camilo Doval (born July 4, 1997) is a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He signed with the Giants as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2015, and made his MLB debut with them in 2021. His

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

has reached .

Early life

Doval was born in

Yamasá Yamasá is a municipality (''municipio'') of the Monte Plata province in the Dominican Republic. It includes the municipal district (''distrito municipal'') of Los Botados. Yamasa is north of the capital city of Santo Domingo. The Rio Ozama, on ...

, in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. His parents are Rosa, an elementary school teacher, and Sergio, a farmer, who have separated. He is the third of Rosa's four children, and has a combined 23 siblings and half-siblings, with whom he communicates often in a group chat on Whatsapp. He has a son who was one year old in October 2021, Lian.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Doval signed with the

as an international

at 18 years of age in October 2015, for a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $100,000, as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

. In 2016 as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

he had a 2–0

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

with one save and a 1.66

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) for the Rookie-level DSL Giants in the

Dominican Summer League The Dominican Summer League (DSL) is a branch of affiliated Minor League Baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic. The league was founded in 1985. After the demise of the Venezuelan Summer League after the 2015 season, it is the only L ...

. In 2017 he was 1–2 with one save and a 3.90 ERA, and had 14.2

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s per 9

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

s (2nd in the

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it f ...

) for the Rookie-level

AZL Giants The Arizona Complex League Giants are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Scottsdale Stadium in S ...

. In 2018 he was 0–3 with a 3.06 ERA and had 11 saves (5th in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

) in 44 games (2nd), as he struck out 13.2 batters per 9 innings (3rd). Doval was a 2018 MiLB.com Organization All-Star, pitching for the Class A

Augusta Greenjackets The Augusta GreenJackets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina, which opened in April 2018. They previous ...

. In 2019 he was 3–5 with a 3.83 ERA in 45 relief appearances (3rd in the league) for the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants ga ...

, as he allowed only 6.6 hits per 9 innings and struck out 12.8 batters per 9 innings. He was a 2019

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

Mid-Season All-Star. Doval averaged 12.8 strikeouts per 9 innings in his first four minor league seasons. Doval did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The Giants added him to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

after the 2020 season. He split 2021 between the

Triple-A West The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Ba ...

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 yea ...

and the major league Giants. In July, pitching for the River Cats, Doval threw a pitch that was timed at 104.5 mph. For the 2021 season for the River Cats, he was 3-0 with one save and a 4.99 ERA, and averaged 12.9 strikeouts per 9 innings over 28 relief appearances covering 30.2 innings.

San Francisco Giants

2021

On April 16, 2021, Doval was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut at 23 years of age on April 18, pitching a scoreless inning of relief with 2 strikeouts against the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

. In September 2021 he became the second Giants pitcher since

Statcast Statcast is a high-speed, high-accuracy, automated tool developed to analyze player movements and athletic abilities in Major League Baseball (MLB). Statcast was introduced to all thirty MLB stadiums in 2015, a year now considered the beginning ...

started tracking in 2008 to throw a pitch faster than 102 mph, joining

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

. That same month, he became the youngest Giants pitcher, at 24 years and three months old, to record a save since

Rod Beck Rodney Roy Beck (August 3, 1968 – June 23, 2007), nicknamed "Shooter", was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the San Francisco Giants (–), Chicago Cubs (–), Boston Red Sox (1999–) and San Diego Padres (–). He batte ...

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 A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

. His average fastball velocity of 98.6 mph was in the fastest 1% in MLB.
/ref> In the post-season, Doval threw a scoreless ninth inning against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

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.

2022

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 A four-seam fastball, also called a rising fastball, a four-seamer, or a cross-seam fastball, is a pitch in baseball. It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the hardest (i.e., fastest) ball thrown by a pitcher. It is ca ...

reaches 104 mph, and he also throws a high-80s hard

slider Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...

and an occasional

change-up A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

. In the middle of the 2022 season, Doval added a sinker averaging in the high-90s to his pitch repotoire. 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.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doval, Camilo 1997 births Living people Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball pitchers San Francisco Giants players San Jose Giants players Augusta GreenJackets players Dominican Summer League Giants players Arizona League Giants players