Yankees' best hidden WBC narrative might've been obscured by Team USA win

Lost in the sauce of Team USA's attempt to hang on for dear life against a Dominican Republic lineup that'll go down in the annals of shocking tournament near-misses was a potentially massive step forward for the regular season Yankees. We may have been collectively rooting against Camilo Doval on Sunday night, but that aggravation only served to reinforce one thing: he looked like the player the Yankees thought they were acquiring last summer.

Doval (and Fernando Cruz of Team Puerto Rico) departed Yankees camp at a surprisingly crucial time (and, needless to say, the Yankees will be happy to have him back for spring's final week). The Yankees' rotation depth looks strong and youthful. The lineup looks familiar and successful, and won't be able to answer any more looming questions until October. The bullpen? Entirely up for grabs and sans upgrades.

Any leap the Yankees take this year will involve David Bednar being rocksteady (and hopefully less of a heart attack than he's been with Team USA), flanked by Cruz staying healthy and effective and Doval looking like the All-Star version of himself as opposed to the scattered reclamation project.

So far, so very good in the WBC. While all American fans were shutting their eyes and hoping for some late-inning relief heroics on Sunday night, Doval knifed through six-seven-eight in Team USA's lineup (read: superstars) with relative ease.

That's the guy we wanted. That's the guy we traded Parks Harber for (d'oh!).

Yankees' Camilo Doval overcame familiar failure to dominate Team USA in World Baseball Classic

The way Doval shook off his continual bugaboo and locked in quickly only further reinforced his progress.

One of the weirdest Doval narratives from his final seasons with the Giants involved his constant struggles to keep up with the pitch clock and stay focused. His already sketchy command took repeated hits when the clock psyched him out of competition. Naturally, his first moment against Team USA on Sunday was a violation and an automatic ball.

That sent what should've been a 2-2 count to 3-2, and it just ... didn't matter. Doval saved his best inside cutter for the payoff pitch to Will Smith, rocked Byron Buxton to sleep with an outside slider, and induced a stay-fair dribbler to first to close the efficient frame.

Anyone who participated in WBC baseball this spring experienced a new level of intensity, and it came in waves. That goes double for anyone who toed the rubber for Team Dominican Republic or faced Team USA. Doval escaped both challenges with flying colors, and while one good inning in a showcase game doesn't mean the Yankees' bullpen woes are solved, a stabilizing Doval season suddenly feels more tangible.