Adding Carlos Estévez to the Kansas City Royals bullpen could create an elite late-game duo of him and Lucas Erceg. Both Estévez and Erceg have closing experience, with Erceg having 14 career saves and Estévez having 82 career saves. If the Royals can get the lead and keep it past the 7th inning, it’s going to be a challenge for the opposition to take the lead back against these two. With the direction the league is going, it wouldn’t be a surprise if either one of these guys is asked to pitch multiple innings.
Carlos Estévez officially joins the Royals! pic.twitter.com/DYYhYzQplx
— Joel Penfield (@jtpenfield) February 1, 2025
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What Can Royals Fans Expect from Carlos Estévez?
Estévez, 32, will be heading into his ninth season in MLB. In the last three seasons, he’s recorded 20 or more saves in all of them. His pitch repertoire consists of a four-seam fastball, slider, changeup, and curveball. His best pitch is his changeup, which generated a 37 Whiff% last season. He uses his fastball and slider a majority of the time and only pulls out the changeup when he knows it’ll be effective. His curveball is an enigma, as he threw it just three times last season.
Estévez had a great ERA- of 2.45, a career low, in 55 innings pitched last season. He chose a great time to have a good season and get paid in free agency. He’ll project as the Royals closer going into the year unless someone impresses in spring and takes his spot. Kansas City got a lot of certainty with the signing of Estévez, and fans should be excited about what he can bring to the team this upcoming season.
Potential Concerns with Estévez
One of the concerns with Estévez is repeating his 2.45 ERA- mark from last year. According to his Baseball Savant page, that number was nearly a point lower than his expected ERA- of 3.19. Both numbers are excellent, but some regression in his ERA- wouldn’t be surprising. Still, if he performs anywhere in between his actual numbers from last year, he’ll be in line for a great season.
It would be interesting to see Estévez use his changeup a bit more. With it being his best swing-and-miss pitch, only throwing it 10% of the time is an interesting approach. Kansas City might ask him to keep that approach exactly how it is, which wouldn’t be a bad move. He has a mid-90s fastball as well, which is always a great primary pitch to have to get swings and misses with. You can’t go wrong with a slider either.
What is There to Like About the Estevez-Erceg Duo?
To start, both of them have been under team control for a while. Erceg isn’t a free agent until 2030, and Estévez has the potential to be in Kansas City past 2027. Also, both of their best swing-and-miss pitches are their changeups. Erceg beat Estévez’s Whiff% by half a percent. Both of these guys throw in the mid-to-upper 90s but also have swing-and-miss potential with their off-speed pitches. The Royals bullpen should garner excitement this year.
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