What unfolded at PNC Park can be perceived as one of the reasons the New York Yankees traded the relief pitcher. Back in late June, Camilo Doval gave up Andrew Benintendi’s eighth-inning pinch-hit grand slam on his very first pitch of the night, a blow that helped seal the Yankees’ 5-1 defeat to the White Sox. While this time, his odd play against the Mets may not have come at such a crucial point, it still was an unfortunate moment to see for the fans.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have dropped 14 games in their last 20 and are staring at a 10-season playoff drought. But it gets even grimmer when you see them drop a game with a 10-run deficit against a team that sits third-last in the National League. Now, given the history of Pirates fans, they made their feelings toward the organization known almost instantly. And as the fans chanted, the Pirates’ newest trade acquisition made a move that didn’t sit too well either.

“Camilo Doval chucks the ball into right field as Pirates fans chant ‘sell the team,’” Talkin’ Baseball shared the clip on social media. 

Doval made his fourth appearance for the Pirates since the New York Yankees traded him, and one thing that stands out after the transition is that he has been far more effective in Pittsburgh than he was in the Bronx. Yet a single instance raised the eyebrows of the fans, who were already frustrated with the team.

The relief pitcher took the mound in the sixth and allowed a single to Jared Young. The fans had already lost hope in the team as the Pirates were trailing by 9 runs, and they were chanting “sell the team.” In the middle of that fan frustration, he tried a pick-off attempt on Young during Marcus Semien’s at-bat. 

But instead, his throw hit the ground and went rolling between first and second base. The fielders made a run for it while Young reached first base. Luckily, it didn’t widen the gap further, and Doval wrapped the inning, allowing just 1 hit and 1 walk, with 3 strikeouts. The Pirates eventually suffered an 11-1 loss following their 9-0 shutout win against the Mets. Further, they dropped the series against the team stuck at the bottom of the NL East. 

Doval signed a one-year, $6.1 million contract with the Yankees for 2026, but they ended up sending him to Pittsburgh in exchange for catcher Omar Alfonzo and outfielder Luis Cruz. 

The 29-year-old had a 4.54 ERA with the Yankees, but his current numbers since ‘The Deadline’ show a 2.25 ERA and 5 strikeouts over 4.0 innings. The Pirates, on the other hand, are fourth in the NL Central with a 58-62 record. They are 5.5 games behind the last National League Wild Card spot, currently held by the Philadelphia Phillies. 

While the broadcast booth termed Camilo Doval “indecisive” for his pick-off error, the overall frustration was barely towards him. 

Pirates fans have been calling for change long before this season

This Sunday was the first time this season the fans started chanting “Sell the team,” but it was far more prominent back in 2025. Last January, CEO Travis Williams attended a Q&A, and the fans started shouting the same slogan, as the team had always finished the regular season in the bottom half of the NL Central since 2016.

But Williams made it clear that Pittsburgh owner Bob Nutting had no intention of selling the team. That hardly helped suppress the noise, and the displeasure only became more visible. Even insider Robbie Hyde criticized Nutting, calling him the “worst owners in all of sports.”

The Pirates had their first homestand against the Yankees in April last year. Even then, the fans showed their discontent, gathering at PNC Park with multiple banners saying “Sell the Team, Bob.” Their chants broke out inside the stadium, showing how incredibly the organization has failed its loyalists. 

The wave turned more coordinated with the “Our Team, Not His” movement. Billboards, signs, banners, t-shirts – it was everywhere. They previously even installed a billboard on West Carson Street just before the Fort Pitt Tunnel on-ramp that said, “Abandon ship, Bob! Sell the team.”

Their biggest complaint was against the ownership’s unwillingness to invest enough in the roster, but those protests did little to improve the competitiveness of the team, as Pittsburgh finished fifth in the division with a 71-91 record last season.

Although they are much closer to .500 this year, the recent loss against one of the weakest teams in MLB shows how bad of shape they are in. Despite a +21 run differential and .256 batting average (third in the league), the fans hardly see any hope of reaching October. 

Amid these frustrations, Camilo Doval just got caught in the fire.