Camilo Doval's Seat Is Starting to Heat Up After Yankees' Recent Bullpen Decisions

Every move brings the struggling reliever on step closer to his Bronx exit.

The Yankees' recent bullpen activity—across the organization—should have Camilo Doval concerned about his outlook. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Upgrading the bullpen should be near the top of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman's trade deadline to-do list. While the unit has had its positive moments, the Yankees' relief group has also caused its fair share of headaches, with Camilo Doval being a constant source of them.

Acquired last summer to help bolster the Yankees' bullpen, Doval has been anything but a helpful hand more often than not this season. As of Tuesday afternoon, the 28-year-old right-hander sits at a career-worst 5.22 ERA through 33 appearances, having surrendered 17 earned runs and five homers on 30 hits over 29 1/3 innings. It doesn't help that he's also allowing a .734 OPS and a 50.0% hard-hit rate to opposing batters.

And the hits keep coming. After pitching to a respectable 3.27 ERA through 13 May appearances, Doval's number has bloomed to a 5.63 ERA in June (eight games). Baseball Savant is giving him a .238 expected batting average during that stretch; however, he's actually conceded a .343 BA to opposing batters. That just isn't good enough for a team that has legitimate World Series aspirations.

Camilo Doval continues to give the Yankees more reasons to turn the page on him as the 2026 season continues. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Although there aren't imminent plans to move on from Doval, a potential change should be on the Yankees' radar. The organization's recent bullpen-related decisions show that New York knows that a relief shake-up is needed, and that should worry the Dominican reliever if he hopes to stick around for the long haul.

Yankees' bullpen activity could mark the beginning of the end for Camilo Doval

The MLB trade deadline is coming up in just over a month, meaning the Yankees will have plenty of opportunities to acquire relief help. Cashman might not want to surrender promising prospects for uncertain solutions, though, which is why the club is seemingly exploring internal options first.

For starters, the Yankees already showed that mediocrity doesn't have a place in the bullpen by optioning Jake Bird to Triple-A. Much like Doval, Bird was acquired before last year's trade deadline and struggled to the tune of a 4.88 ERA with three blown saves in 29 games before receiving the boot over the weekend.

It didn't take the Yankees long to make another bullpen-related transaction, promoting Yerry de los Santos from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre the day after Bird's dismissal. The 28-year-old hurler allowed one earned run while striking out six batters in two previous MLB appearances (5 1/3 innings) this season. If he can capitalize on his latest opportunity, de los Santos could give the Yankees reason to keep him over Doval once reinforcements arrive.

Speaking of reinforcements, the Yankees have taken another step regarding Carlos Lagrange's bullpen transition. NY Daily News' Gary Phillips reported on Wednesday that the organization is treating Lagrange like a "normal reliever" after spending the last handful of weeks forgetting what he learned as a starter.

Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake even went as far as saying that the No. 4 prospect (MLB Pipeline) in the club's system could be big-league ready by August.

As far as (Lagrange's) progression to being a major league reliever in terms of workload and usage, he would be available before the deadline. It’s just a matter of what our comfort level is, what it looks like in the pen, all that.

Matt Blake on Carlos Lagrange's outlook

On Monday, Lagrange talked about his bullpen move with former Yankees reliever Dellin Betances on the YES Network. The 23-year-old prospect said that he was "really excited" upon hearing the news of his transition, as it gives him a better chance to reach the majors, adding that he wants "to do whatever" he can to help the Yankees. That's the type of motivated arm the Yankees should want in their bullpen to give it a boost.

Carlos Lagrange joins @DBetances68 to discuss his transition to the bullpen. pic.twitter.com/LrbSzPprws

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) June 23, 2026

The bullpen will become even more crowded when the Yankees' injured bodies—Max Fried and Clarke Schmidt—return to action. Fried will likely knock Ryan Weathers into the bullpen, while Schmidt's relief experience makes him an obvious fit to give the bullpen a boost before the playoffs. Weathers and Schmidt's starting history would also help New York with spot-starts and doubleheaders, something Doval can't do.

Throw in the fact that other relievers on the Scranton roster—like Yovanny Cruz (already on the 40-man) and Bradley Hanner—could also be internal solutions, and it's easy to see how the reasons for Doval to be worried are piling up. Once the Yankees exhaust their internal options, they'll look externally, which raises the odds that the former Giants reliever will be replaced by a new face or even traded out of the Bronx altogether.

Every Yankees bullpen move could impact how long Doval will stick around, making his situation worth monitoring as the summer buzz heats up.