The New York Yankees turned their shoddy bullpen into a strength in a matter of four hours.
New York capped a flurry of trade-deadline deals, primarily for relief pitchers, by acquiring San Francisco Giants closer Camilo Doval for four minor leaguers mere minutes before the 6 p.m. ET trade deadline Thursday.
Doval comes to New York, along with now-former Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar and Colorado Rockies setup man Jake Bird in a revamped bullpen.
They will join closer Devin Williams and lights-out setup man Luke Weaver — the team’s 2024 postseason closer — in hopes of upgrading the New York bullpen. The Yankees are just 16-18 in one-run games, in part due to the fact they are tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 22nd in the majors in bullpen ERA (4.24)
Who Is Camilo Doval?
Doval, a 2023 All-Star, has become one of the top back-end relievers in the National League since assuming the closer role in 2022. He has 104 saves in 124 opportunities over the past four seasons and has 15 saves in 19 chances this season.
After an off-2024 season, where he finished with an elevated 4.88 ERA and 23 saves, Doval has found his lights-out form this year. He is 4-2 with a 3.09 ERA in 47 games and has swing-and-miss stuff, proven by his 50 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings and an opposing batting average of .196.
Doval mainly throws a slider and a cut-fastball. He does also throw a sinker sparingly, since according to Baseball Savant, but has only thrown the pitch 5.3 percent of the time in 2024.
Still, that arsenal has helped Doval strike out an eye-popping 332 batters in 268 innings.
Perhaps more importantly, since Williams and Weaver are pending free agents, Doval is under team control for the next two seasons. Doval is in his second season of arbitration eligibility and will likely get a raise from his 2025 salary of $4.525 million.
Who Did The Yankees Give Up To Get Camilo Doval?
The Yankees parted with their Nos. 8 and 14 prospects in the trade for Bednar, but their most valuable prospects dealt in the Doval trade was No. 19 Trystan Vrieling, per MLB Pipeline. They also parted with No. 25 prospect Jesus Rodriguez, a catcher/third baseman.
Vrieling will turn 25 on Oct. 2, but is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in 12 games, and 10 starts, in Double-A Somerset.
Rodriguez boasts an .839 OPS in Triple-A this season but is blocked by both catcher Austin Wells and recently acquired third baseman Ryan McMahon.
Who Is The Yankees’ Closer?
It’s a good problem to have, but the Yankees now have four relievers with at least eight saves in Bednar (17), Williams (17), Weaver (8) and Doval (15).
Throw in Fernando Cruz (2), Mark Leiter Jr (2) and Jonathan Loaisiga, who picked up the save in New York’s 7-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, and the Yankees have seven relievers with saves this year — though Cruz and Leiter are currently on the IL.
Yet, in Doval, Bird and Bednar, New York acquired relievers who could get strikeouts, something the Yankees have struggled with for years — dating back to Clay Holmes’ tenure as closer. Bednar (12.1), Bird (10.5) and Doval (9.6) each average at least one strikeout per inning.
“We’ll see,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday when asked how he will deploy the recently acquired relievers. “We have a number of guys who are now capable of getting the last three outs.
“Excited. Starting with Bednar, I’ve been pounding the table for him for a while now. He’s obviously in the middle of a great year.”
With GM Brian Cashman’s inability to acquire a starting pitcher, since the Yankees staff is suspect beyond ace Max Fried and No. 2 Carlos Rodon, New York now has a bullpen that can lock down games from the fifth inning on.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Yankees Acquire Giants Closer, Cap Huge Day Of Deadline Bullpen Additions appeared first on Heavy Sports.