San Francisco Giants Have Benefitted Greatly From All-Star Reliever Returning To Form

Arguably, the strongest part of the San Francisco Giants thus far in the 2025 MLB regular season has been their bullpen.

Virtually every relief pitcher that manager Bob Melvin turns to is getting the job done. Hayden Birdsong has thrived in a multi-inning role after not winning the competition for the No. 5 spot in the rotation.

Randy Rodriguez is dominating with his fastball/slider combo, recording a 0.7 WAR. Tyler Rogers remains as reliable a workhorse relief pitcher with a matching 0.7 WAR.

Erik Miller, the only lefty in the group before Kyle Harrison was promoted from Triple-A, has the highest WAR amongst the relievers with a 0.9.

While his WAR isn’t as high as his teammates, the performance of Camilo Doval has been catching the attention of a lot of people.

His upside was evident when he made his debut in 2021 and he took his performance to another level the following seasons. In 2023, he was an All-Star, leading the National League with 39 saves and 60 games finished.

Over his first three seasons as a Major Leaguer, he didn’t have an ERA above 3.00 in any campaign. He was an emerging star, looking like one of the best young relief pitchers in the game.

Unfortunately, things fell apart in 2024.

Doval recorded a -0.5 WAR with a 4.88 ERA. He struggled with walks previously but his lack of control reached alarming levels last year with a 5.9 BB/9.

What Has Camilo Doval Back Performing Like an All-Star?

It was a point of emphasis during the offseason and whatever work he put in has worked with a career-low 2.7 BB/9. His lack of strikeouts could be seen as a concern, with a 5.9 K/9 in 2025; his previous single-season low is 10.6.

Normally such a drop off would be cause for concern, but his production has been excellent outside of a poor three-game stretch from April 4-7.

Since that point, Doval has thrown 12.1 scoreless innings and has gotten his strikeout rate closer to his career numbers with 11 punchouts. Most importantly, he has allowed only one hit and three walks, dropping his season ERA to 1.53 and WHIP to 0.62.