New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone offered some surprisingly pointed comments on a struggling pitcher.
The New York Yankees fell to the Chicago White Sox by a score of 5-1 on Thursday night, and while the offense didn't exactly show up, it was Camilo Doval who suffered the brunt of the blame.
Doval served up a grand slam to White Sox designated hitter Andrew Benintendi in the eighth inning, which resulted in Chicago taking a 5-1 lead.
It was hardly the first time Doval has struggled this season, as he owns a 5.08 ERA and has surrendered five home runs over 28.1 innings of work.
After the game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone offered some surprisingly pointed comments about Doval, something we don't typically hear from Boone.
“Some of those lefties haven’t missed against him,” Boone said, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “Benintendi went up there hunting very aggressively, first pitch, and pulled the ball down and in. He’s missed some spots in some situations that have hurt him.”
Lefties are batting .368 with a .979 OPS against Doval this year. Last season, he held left-handed batters to a .196/.297/.295 slash line.
That being said, Doval has been laboring ever since arriving in the Bronx at last summer's trade deadline.
New York Yankees pitcher Camilo Doval. Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images.The 28-year-old logged a 4.82 ERA across 22 relief appearances with the Yankees in 2025, posting an unsightly 1.607 WHIP. His walks are down considerably in 2026, but he is getting hit incredibly hard.
New York's bullpen has been much better as a whole in the month of June, owning a 2.96 ERA. That is fifth-best in the majors. But it's pretty clear that the Yanks need some relief help before the trade deadline.
The general expectation is that Brian Cashman will add at least one reliever between now and Aug. 3, and the Yankees may have some internal answers, as well.
Ryan Weathers — who pitched very well on Thursday — will likely move to the bullpen Max Fried returns, and it's looking more and more like New York will promote top prospect Carlos Lagrange and place him in the pen, as well.
It's clear that Boone is frustrated with Doval's lack of production. You rarely see the Yankee skipper get that blunt on a player's struggles, so you have to wonder if he has now completely lost trust in the right-hander.
We'll see if the Bronx Bombers make any moves to address the bullpen in the coming weeks.
Yankees Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Yankees. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.
