Kapler breaks down the key to getting Doval out of his slump

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PHILADELPHIA -- All-Star right-hander Camilo Doval has been one of the most dominant closers in baseball this year, but he hasn’t been quite as automatic over the last week.

Doval surrendered a two-run single to Trea Turner in the bottom of the ninth inning that lifted the Phillies to a 4-3 walk-off win on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park, spoiling Kyle Harrison’s promising debut and dropping the Giants out of playoff position for the first time since June 11.

The 26-year-old Doval ranks second in the National League with 33 saves this season, but he’s now blown three in a row, with each of those stumbles sharing a common thread. Manager Gabe Kapler has repeatedly said that the Giants want Doval to do a better job of mixing all three of his pitches -- cutter, sinker and slider -- to create a “coin flip” in hitters’ minds and keep them guessing at the plate.

Doval has at times been too slider-happy, but the opposite proved true on Tuesday, when he threw his breaking ball only once in the 19-pitch outing. A similar situation unfolded on Sunday, when he threw only one slider in a 29-pitch appearance against the Braves.

“Obviously, one thing we’re seeing is that Camilo is using one pitch frequently,” Kapler said following Tuesday’s loss. “He’s going back and forth between his sinker and his cutter. One of the conversations that we had with him, myself and [pitching coach Andrew Bailey], is just to really trust [catcher Patrick] Bailey behind the plate. He’s going to put down fingers to mix the pitches.

“In this particular case, we’re not mixing enough. That’s part of the concern right now in the ninth inning of games. Camilo all year long and even dating back a really long time has been especially effective because he’s mixed his pitches and is throwing his slider. I think that was one thing that was challenging in that inning, among other things.”

Doval’s slider has held opposing hitters to a .146 batting average and generated a 49.2 percent whiff rate this year, so it’ll be key for him to regain his trust in the pitch and not shake away from it moving forward.

“Obviously, there were some shakes,” Bailey said. “I don’t know what he felt comfortable with. Obviously, he’s one of the best, and he’s got three really good pitches. I think when he’s at his best, he can kind of use all three, but there are times when he doesn’t feel a certain pitch, and I get it.”