Of the many ugly performances on the Fourth of July in The Bronx, Camilo Doval’s may have been the most telling.
The right-hander, acquired at last year’s trade deadline, was knocked around again Saturday in a mind-numbing 11-4 loss to the Twins.
For a second straight outing, the former Giants closer allowed four runs.
He was again not helped by his defense, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. booted a fairly routine grounder by Luke Keaschall to lead off the top of the eighth.
Doval took care of the rest of the damage himself — all against lefty hitters, who have tormented him all season.
With one out, he gave up a hit to leadoff hitter Trevor Larnach.
Byron Buxton followed with a sacrifice fly, Kody Clemens an RBI single and Josh Bell a two-run homer.
Aaron Boone noted the issue after the game, as Doval entered having allowed a .951 OPS versus lefties, compared to .728 for his career.
And Doval has actually been more effective against right-handed hitters than he has been in previous seasons.
“His execution against lefties is critical,’’ the manager said. “That part’s been a struggle. He’s been unlucky at times, but he’s made his mistakes against lefties — sometimes it’s been for slug. … Against righties, he continues to throw the ball well.”
Unlike in his previous outing, when he uncharacteristically walked three batters, Doval was done in this time by the three base hits.
On the season — his first he started in The Bronx — Doval has already given up a career-high six homers, all of them in his last 27 ²/₃ innings.
So when the Yankees are on the hunt for more bullpen help at this year’s trade deadline, they’ll be looking to avoid similar mistakes to the ones they made a year ago, as both Doval and Jake Bird have been ineffective since joining the Yankees.
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The Yankees have stuck with Doval — who has a minor league option remaining and could be sent to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre without having to clear waivers — because he has better command than most of the relievers the Yankees have in the minors.
That includes hard-throwing right-hander Yovanny Cruz, who has impressed in his brief opportunities in the majors, particularly in his Tuesday outing against the Tigers, when the right-hander threw two shutout innings.
Still, the organization remains mesmerized by Doval’s velocity and ability to strike batters out.
His strikeout rate is down a bit this season, but so is his walk rate.
But for a pitcher who was acquired to pitch in high-leverage spots, Doval has been unimpressive, and with less than a month left before this year’s trade deadline, he is likely running out of opportunities to prove he can pitch in The Bronx.
