Alexander Wilson
The NY Yankees can keep talking themselves into Camilo Doval’s stuff, and the temptation makes sense. He throws extremely hard, the cutter can jump, and the raw package still looks like something a pitching coach should be able to turn into leverage gold.
The problem is trust. Doval owns a 5.40 ERA across 23 games and 20 innings, with 12 earned runs, four homers allowed, 17 strikeouts, four walks, and a 1.10 WHIP. The WHIP says he is not constantly flooding the bases, but the damage has been too loud for a reliever the Yankees want to use when the game is tight.
I do not care how hard a reliever throws if the manager cannot breathe when he enters with a one-run lead. Velocity is a weapon, but command and damage suppression decide leverage roles.
The Yankees need to separate stuff from role
Doval can still help this bullpen. He can cover lower-leverage innings, give Boone a hard-throwing righty against the bottom of an order, and maybe rebuild confidence if the command settles in.
High leverage is a different conversation. Those spots require more than a radar-gun number, especially for a Yankees team that already has enough late-inning stress around David Bednar, Fernando Cruz, and the search for another reliable bridge arm.
The 102.8 mph tease was fun, but it did not erase the larger issue. The Yankees still have to ask whether Doval’s best pitches show up when the inning is messy and the margin is thin.
Lagrange makes the conversation more interesting
The Yankees are already shifting Carlos Lagrange to the bullpen at Triple-A, which tells you they know the relief picture needs more internal upside. That does not mean Lagrange is ready tomorrow, but it does put more pressure on Doval to prove he is more than a name with velocity.
Boone should not bury him. That would be an overreaction. The smarter move is to make Doval earn the difficult innings instead of handing them to him because of what the stuff looks like on paper.
The Yankees need trustworthy outs in October. Right now, Doval is still trying to prove he can be one of them.
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