Ex-Yankees reliever Camilo Doval DFA’d by Pirates after brutal season

Camilo Doval went from the Yankees to the Pirates.

He’s now gone from the Pirates to a future that’s to be determined.

The hard-throwing reliever was designated for assignment on Tuesday after the Pirates activated fellow reliever — and former Yankee — Kirby Yates off the injured list.

Doval was viewed as one of the prizes of the 2025 trade deadline when the Yankees acquired him from the Giants and David Bednar from the Pirates in moves that looked like they would lock down the late innings.

Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Camilo Doval (75) pitches against the San Francisco Giants during the seventh inning at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While things have gone well for Bednar, it just never really materialized for Doval. The right-hander held a 4.82 ERA and 1.61 WHIP across 22 games with the Yankees last year and struggled once more this year with a 4.54 ERA and 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings, which marked the lowest number of his career.

Ahead of this year’s trade deadline, the Yankees shipped Doval to the Pirates in exchange for minor leaguers  Omar Alfonzo and Luis Cruz.

“I think he’s a really good kid that really tried to make adjustments,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the trade. “Partly because of the performance of a lot of different guys, too, that earned more leveraged roles, it kind of bumped him down a little bit, which I think was a bit of a challenge for him. He is a guy with a lot of ability. Even in the last couple weeks, we’ve seen a couple outings where it’s been, man, pretty electric. Hopefully, he goes there and it’s a fresh start for him.”

New York Yankees pitcher Camilo Doval (75) reacts after the eighth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y., Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

The 29-year-old did fare marginally better in Pittsburgh with a 3.79 ERA, but his walk rate (6.6) would be the worst of his big league career if played out over a full season.

Pittsburgh (79-77), which was in the National League wild-card race at the deadline, was eliminated from postseason contention last week. Part of that was the bullpen moves (Doval and Luke Weaver) not bringing as much to the table as the team would have hoped.

Weaver, after a dominant first half with the Mets, saw his ERA skyrocket to 5.79 with the Pirates, part of which he attributed to a “severe” case of poison ivy.