Giants All-Star closer Camilo Doval throws 100 mph but prefers life in the slow lane

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants have sent several unique and distinguished relief pitchers to the All-Star Game over the years. Robb Nen had his toe tap and wipeout slider. Brian Wilson had his jet-black beard and talent for escaping jams of his own making. Rod Beck would show up with a carton of Kools, an 89-mph fastball and send everyone to the bar. Then there was Stu Miller, who committed a memorable balk in the 1961 All-Star Game at Candlestick Park when a gust of wind knocked him off the mound.

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None of them threw as hard as Camilo Doval.

Doval’s average fastball this season is 100.2 mph. He’s been clocked as high as 104 in a game against Arizona last season. That’s not a straight-as-a-string four-seam heater, either. That’s his cutter, which veers onto the knuckles of right-handed hitters. Righties are batting .063 against the pitch this season. Here’s the thing: the cutter hasn’t even been Doval’s most effective weapon. His slider has dominated everyone (.113) and has been particularly effective against lefties (.057).

He's an All-Star for a reason 🤩

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 8, 2023

But it takes more than elite stuff to be an effective major-league closer. It takes command, consistency, confidence, a dedicated routine and the ability to slow the game down in its most heart-quickening moments. Doval, who is tied for the major-league lead with 26 saves, has gotten better and better at every aspect — managing the pitch clock, too — while developing into one of the game’s best relief pitchers. And slowing down the game has never been a problem for the nonchalant pitcher whose nickname could be Camilo Tranquilo. So it both surprised no one and delighted everyone in the Giants clubhouse when Doval was selected to his first All-Star team. He and right-hander Alex Cobb, a 35-year-old first-time All-Star in his 12th season, will represent the Giants on the NL squad in Seattle later today.

The Giants scout who saw Doval before anyone else? He isn’t surprised, either.

“We knew we had somebody special,” said Gabriel Elias, reached by phone in the Dominican Republic. “He was 17 years old, very quick arm, very loose, lower arm angle, a bit athletic, flexible. He was impressive back then. He wasn’t throwing very hard, maybe 87-88 mph. But he had that impressive slider back then. That was the first thing that caught my attention. He always spins the ball really well.”

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Elias and Doval were both finding their way in pro baseball back in 2015. Elias began scouting as a teenager and was a relatively new 22-year-old addition to the Giants organization when he received a call from a trainer, Ezequiel Villar, encouraging him to check out a young right-hander who hadn’t garnered any attention as a 16-year-old but had hit a growth spurt. Doval was from Yamasa, a farming community north of Santo Domingo. Every time Elias drove up to see Doval, the young pitcher threw better than the previous time.

“I saw him in the early stages when he was just starting to do workouts and really learn how to pitch,” Elias said. “I think that was the key to signing him.”

Elias first met Doval and his family in April of 2015. By October of that year, other teams were beginning to show interest. Elias didn’t want to overstep his boundaries. But he knew this was a player worth pushing for.

“I was so young and hungry and eager to sign a big leaguer,” Elias said. “I had confidence in myself. Thank God they believed in me.”

The Giants signed Doval for $100,000 and Elias kept close tabs on him. The scout didn’t have to invent excuses to visit Yamasa, where the pace of life was slower, the air was fresher and all of the food was farm-to-table cuisine.

“We say en sasón del campo,” Elias said. “The food tastes awesome, just different. If I’m going to Camilo’s house, the time goes so slowly. People around you aren’t rushing.”

Elias noticed that Doval was a product of his environment. He did most of his physical training outside instead of under fluorescent lighting in a gym. He’d wake up early every morning and ask his grandfather, Bernardo, what needed to be done that day on the family farm. And when the chores were finished, Doval would walk down the block to the Yamasa River and go for a swim. He wasn’t in the water to splash around or cool off. He would swim as hard as he could against the current, developing his back and shoulder muscles.

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Swimming is something Doval still loves to do when he returns home in the winter.

“I love competing,” Doval said through Spanish interpreter Erwin Higueros. “I love swimming in the river. Me and the guys have competitions all day. We don’t care how long we spend there. We swim, we compete, and after that, we have the locrio, we have another beer. I can’t describe how great it is to be there.”

Locrio is the chicken-and-rice dish that is one of the best-loved meals in the Dominican Republic. His grandmother, Ana Severino, makes it better than anyone.

“Nobody cooks like her,” Doval said. “She takes over the kitchen. When the rice fries on the bottom of the pan, that’s the best part. The farm is like a supermarket. Yuca, plantains, mangoes. Whenever I want to eat something fresh, I go out to the fields and grab whatever I want.”

But the river and the locrio can wait. When Doval returns home, the first thing he does is greet every member of his family. It’s been widely reported that he has 23 brothers and sisters, but he is closest to his three full siblings: older brothers Juaquin and Isaías and younger sister Cheri. His uncle, Girón, bought him his first baseball glove when he was young. He calls his mother, Rosa, and his grandparents the most inspirational people in his life.

“My grandfather is the reason I am here,” Doval said. “He used to say, ‘You’re the biggest in the family, you’re strong.’ He is the one who told me I could succeed. He taught me the ethic of work. Since I was little, I worked in the fields with him, worked with the animals.”

The horses come next. Doval had a custom orange saddle made for Zorro, his black stallion. He has two other horses and hopes to own many more.

“He needs his horses and to be with his family,” Elias said. “He’s happy with so little. He’s always been a quiet person with a good heart, very humble. Now you see he’s getting recognition and he’s still the same, still so laid back. It has a lot to do with where he comes from.”

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“That’s how it is,” Doval said. “You get there and there is no rush. Time slows down. You go sit under a tree, you’re in the shade, joking around with friends, playing dominoes, maybe having a drink. There’s always music.”

If there’s one challenge that remains for Doval to establish himself as a major-league star, it’s a problem for the marketing department. He isn’t a self-promoter or an adrenaline junkie. If it were up to him, his entrance music would be one of the Mexican Norteño ballads that he favors. He’ll pump a fist or slap his chest every now and then, but if you’re putting together a sizzle reel, it really is all about his stuff. For someone who throws harder than 99 percent of big-league pitchers, there’s no hard-edged personality to promote.

But the content is as compelling as it gets. Doval is the first Giants closer since Wilson in 2011 to record 25 saves before the All-Star break.

Doval’s family will be watching the All-Star Game from the family farm. It hasn’t been easy to arrange travel visas to the United States for his family members. That’s just the way it is, he said. They’ve been happy enough to watch his success from afar. After almost every save he converts, he receives a video with his family’s reaction. “When we win, it’s like every game is the World Series,” he said. “My grandmother, she’ll be celebrating, throwing stuff around.”

It’s meant everything to Doval to have his wife, Gerolys, and 2-year-old son, Liam, with him in San Francisco for the first time this season. They’ll join him on the All-Star red carpet, where he might don a cowboy hat if he can find one that complements the suit he’s planning to wear.

Earlier this month in New York, when Giants manager Gabe Kapler informed the team that Doval would represent them in Seattle, the 26-year-old right-hander stood up and spoke to the group in Spanish. For many of them, it was the most they’ve ever heard him speak. The translation:

For me, it is an honor to represent my team in the All-Star game and take every one of you with me. The confidence that we all have working as a team is the most important thing. Every time I take the ball for my ninth inning, I tell myself I have total trust in everyone here. The best are playing behind me.

“That was really cool, you know?” Giants president Farhan Zaidi said. “It sort of demonstrates what we want to continue to do more: give our Spanish speakers a platform and an opportunity. I don’t think we, whether it’s internally as an organization or baseball as a whole, do the best job we could of hearing those voices and perspectives. So that was kind of a reminder for me.

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“And he’s done an incredible job. Beyond the performance, he’s become a real leader and a real presence in our clubhouse.”

Those qualities were evident to a 22-year-old scout, too.

“He’s never been afraid of any challenge, any situation,” Elias said. “I’m very proud of him because I’ve seen him go from a very talented but raw teenager to a successful big leaguer and family man. I understood the steps he had to take. There were ups and downs and things to figure out, coming to a new culture and country, being here during the pandemic and away from his family. It took time. But he deserves his success because he’s earned it. And he has been so humble about it.

“Every time I call him, he’s still the same guy, same laid-back personality.”

(Photo: Eric Risberg / Associated Press)