The Philadelphia Phillies have multiple roster needs they will aim to upgrade by the MLB trade deadline at the end of July. Acquiring an outfielder and another reliever ranks among the primary needs of their position groups.
Will the Phillies trade for a reliever who isn’t primarily a closer or a bullpen pitcher who has been used often in the ninth inning? A reliever’s age and current contract situation will determine how many top prospects they need to trade from their farm system.
Here is a surprise closer the Phillies may have in their trade deadline sights.
Phillies could have surprise high-octane closer Camilo Doval in their trade deadline sights
According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, if the San Francisco Giants decide to sell, multiple teams will express an interest in acquiring closer Camilo Doval, who average 100 mph with his cutter and 98 mph with his sinker.
The Dominican native got off to an excellent start with a 1.80 ERA and converted all five of his saves in 10 appearances in April. He finished with a 2.25 ERA and saved four out of five games in 12 May contests.
However, he has endured struggles over the last two months. Doval allowed eight earned runs over two of his 11 games in June. The two bad outings contributed to the closer finishing with a whopping 8.10 ERA for the month. His season ERA was 2.78 at the end of May but rose to 4.41 a month later.
Doval has done better in July, with two earned runs allowed in five games. However, Giants manager Bob Melvin could consider other options for the role of the club closer moving forward. One of the Giants’ radio commentators, Mike Krukow, recently expressed his frustrations with the reliever on KNBR’s Murph & Markus morning radio show in San Francisco.
“I’m p***ed off. I’m p***ed off. That 2-0 lead and that walk… He’s better than this. Especially when you had the 1-2 count. That’s unforgivable for a closer,” Krukow said. “So where do we go from here? I don’t know. I really don’t know. I don’t know if he’s the guy coming out of the break. If you’re Bob Melvin, you might even consider that this is something where he needs to go [to the minors], work on a few things. Kind of a head slap, calm down, find out what is important in certain situations.”
