Camilo Doval Only Has One Request After Returning to Giants

The San Francisco Giants have their former All-Star reliever back and he only wants one thing in return now that he’s back.

Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Camilo Doval. Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Camilo Doval has lived a life since the San Francisco Giants traded him at last year’s trade deadline.

Traded twice. Designated for assignment once. Claimed off waivers once. Now back in the Bay Area.

If he has it his way, he’ll never leave.

“This is where I want to be. This is my home,” he said to reporters on Friday, including NBC Sports Bay Area.

San Francisco activated Doval on Friday and optioned Cesar Perdomo to Triple-A Sacramento to make room. He is unlikely to pitch in the opener against the Dodgers but could pitch sometime this weekend. If he has his way, he’ll be pitching for the Giants far beyond this season, too.

Camilo Doval’s Path Back to San Francisco

San Francisco Giants pitcher Camilo Doval. Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When the Giants traded Doval to the New York Yankees last July for four players, it was high return for a reliever that could solve their high-leverage issues. He was 4-2 with a 3.09 ERA with 15 saves in 19 chances but the emergence of Randy Rodriguez allowed San Francisco to make a move on player who had to be optioned in 2024 to the minors to find his command.

With the Yankees he went 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA and had one save in three chances. He started the season in New York but couldn’t find the efficiency with which he pitched with the Giants in 2025. He was 3-1 with a 4.54 ERA in 44 games and batters were hitting .250 against him. The Yankees dealt him at the deadline to the Pittsburgh Pirates, this time for two players.

The number got a bit better with Pittsburgh, as he went 0-1 with a 3.79 ERA in 19 innings. But batters were hitting .271 against him and the Pirates DFA’ed him earlier this week.

Returning to San Francisco may be fortuitous for Doval. He had his biggest success with the organization in 2023 as he was named a National League All-Star. He went 6-6 with a 2.93 ERA with 39 saves in 47 chances. Batters hit just .209 against him. That was the follow-up to his breakthrough 2022 campaign when he went 6-6 with a 2.53 ERA with 27 saves in 30 chances as batters hit .218 against him.

Doval isn’t kidding when he says the Giants are home. The organization signed him as a teenager out of the Dominican Republic in 2015. Before the trade, the Giants were the only team he knew. Now 29 years old, he will spend the offseason with his old team with the intent of making the roster in 2027.

San Francisco failed to address its bullpen properly last offseason, and it cost the Giants in 2026. Doval has one more year of team control and one more chance to prove that his long-term future is in the Bay Area.