Giants prospect Doval gets first call-up as Cueto hits injured list

The Giants are calling up a pitcher who’s never risen above High-A ball to fill veteran starter Johnny Cueto’s roster spot as he hits the injured list.

Camilo Doval, 23, will be added to the Giants’ 26man roster Friday ahead of the team’s game in Miami against the Marlins. He’s arriving from the team’s alternate site.

Doval is a right-handed reliever out of the Dominican Republic who has been in the Giants’ farm system since 2016. He pitched in 2018 for the Low-A Augusta GreenJackets before moving to the High-A San Jose Giants in 2019. He spent last season at the Giants’ alternate site as all minorleague operations were paused during the pandemic.

Cueto suffered a lat strain in his start Wednesday afternoon, forcing him onto the injured list.

Doval’s strongest pitch is his cutter, which he throws at 98-to-100 miles per hour. His secondary pitch is a slider. At times this spring Doval was erratic with his command, but of the three pitching prospects the Giants added to their 40-man roster this offseason (Kervin Castro, Gregory Santos), Doval is the most polished.

He threw five innings, giving up a single earned run this spring over five outings.

The Giants were impressed with Doval last year at the alternate site and he nearly made his MLB debut toward the end of the 2020 season, but instead Friday will be his first game in a San Francisco Giants uniform.

The addition of Doval could allow the Giants to put Logan Webb back into the rotation in Cueto’s absence. Webb threw out of the bullpen Wednesday after manager Gabe Kapler announced Alex Wood would join the rotation beginning Sunday.

The Giants have used right-handed setup man Tyler Rogers in eight of their 12 games so far this season, as fellow righty Matt Wisler has struggled early on and Reyes Moronta has landed on the injured list.