Camilo Doval has an ERA of 4.67, a number that does not take into account the eight unearned runs he has surrendered in his past three games.
There are few pitchers in baseball who have been statistically friendlier to lefty hitters, who have torched a very talented right arm.
But the public belief stated both by the Yankees flamethrower and his manager is Doval’s fortunes will turn because poor luck is playing a significant part in the struggles.
“In my career as a pitcher, I’ve never felt this good,” Doval said through interpreter Marlon Abreu after allowing two more unearned runs in Sunday’s 6-1 loss to the Twins in The Bronx. “I’m not getting the results I expect out of myself. Sometimes it’s out of your control — you execute pitches and then you don’t get the results you want.”
He had a point in the series finale, when Ryan Kreidler reached on an error by Anthony Volpe and when Luke Keaschall did not “execute a bunt,” in the words of Aaron Boone, trying to lay one down and instead popping it over Doval and toward shortstop “no-man’s-land,” the manager said. It went for a single that loaded the bases.
But Doval has not been able to limit damage when poor luck or errors strike, and he walked in one run before a sacrifice fly scored another.
“I know nobody likes hearing it, but he’s throwing the ball really well,” said Boone, who leaned upon Doval’s excellent numbers against righties and acknowledged his issues with lefties. “Obviously the lefties have hurt him. … That’s where we got to get him a little more efficient.”
Among a lengthy list of Yankees issues is Doval, who has the talent and pedigree (a 2023 All-Star) to lock down the late innings but whose ineffectiveness figures to prompt the front office to seek trade-deadline help. He has been shutdown against righty hitters — among pitchers who had logged at least 19 innings versus righties this season, Doval’s .438 OPS-against entered play ranked 13th, narrowly behind Shohei Ohtani’s .430.
But there had been only three pitchers worse against lefty hitters, Doval sporting a 1.044 OPS-against.
When Doval was at his best — during his All-Star season with the Giants — he trusted his cutter and slider against lefties, only mixing in a few sinkers.
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With the Yankees this year, Doval’s sinker usage has spiked all the way up to 43 percent against lefties.
Asked the key to improving against opposite-handed hitters, Doval cited strike-throwing.
“You really gotta be able to execute and attack the zone against lefties. You can’t lose faith in yourself,” said Doval, who has walked five, allowed 26 hits and given up four homers in 14 ⅓ innings against lefties. “… Just want to be able to keep attacking and being as consistent as possible.”
If the Yankees had plenty of options already on the 40-man roster in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, perhaps they would demote Doval and allow him to work on his command against lefties at the lower level.
Given the state of the team, Boone did not sound as if such a move would happen.
“The bottom line is he’s got to be part of our solution here,” Boone said. “We’re up against it a little bit from an attrition standpoint.”
Max Fried threw a second live batting practice, building up to 36 pitches.
The lefty, recovering from an elbow bone bruise, will throw another sim game Thursday or Friday, after which a rehab assignment is expected.
