San Francisco Giants to Recall Struggling Closer to MLB Roster

The San Francisco Giants are ready to give their struggling closer another shot in the big leagues.

Jul 28, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Camilo Doval (75) reacts against the Colorado Rockies during the ninth inning at Oracle Park. / Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants are ready to give their struggling closer another shot back in the majors after sending him down for a Triple-A refresher stint.

After a couple of weeks down in the minors, the Giants are calling Camilo Doval back up to the MLB roster per Andrew Baggarly of The Atheltic.

Things had gotten bad enough for Doval that it only seemed fitting to send him down. Fans and media members alike were calling for the team to trade him ahead of the MLB trade deadline. They decided to keep him around, but a three-run night against the Washington Nationals caused the team to send him down.

Over his last eight games in a San Francisco uniform, he had five saves and hadn't been given a loss or blown save. Those numbers don't represent what was actually happening on the field, though, as he had a 8.59 ERA with six walks to eight strikeouts in that stretch.

Batters were slashing .286/.444/.500. As a team fighting for their lives in the playoff race, they couldn't take the chance and decided to give him some breathing room.

The 27-year-old's time with Triple-A Sacramento got off to a bad start, which did cause some to panic a little bit. His first game ended with him having given up a walk, two hits and two earned runs in one inning of work.

Over his next four outings, though, he looks to have settled back in with a couple of scoreless and hitless outings in a row. While he didn't log a save in that time, having a couple of solid outings in a row could go a long way.

He hasn't had a stretch of four solid outings in a row since the first two weeks of July.

The decision to bring Doval back to the big leagues could have been spurred by the complete collapse experienced against the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

A four-run eighth inning and a walk-off in the 10th was a frustrating turn of events after being up five runs to one heading into the bottom of the eighth.

Since Doval's last game, Ryan Walker has picked up two saves and Jordan Hicks has picked up another. Neither have given up an earned run in that stretch.

The Giants bullpen has been fairly average as a whole over that time. The hope is that a refreshed Doval will push the team over the edge to being an elite bullpen once again.