Royals Two-Time All-Star Already Facing Demotion From Closer Job

When will Carlos Estévez get back into a save situation?

Sep 27, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Kansas City Royals pitcher Carlos Estevez (53) throws a pitch against the Athletics during the ninth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

Sometimes, it only takes one slip-up when all the warning signs were already present.

Kansas City Royals closer Carlos Estévez led Major League Baseball with 42 saves last season. But that was strongly contingent on him throwing a consistent 95 mph, so it wasn't encouraging to see him chucking 88-90 mph throughout spring training. Then, his regular-season opener went about as poorly as anyone could have drawn it up.

Estévez came into a 2-0 game in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday and surrendered six runs on four hits and two walks. The night was punctuated by a walk-off grand slam from the Braves' Dominic Smith on a 92.3 mph fastball in the heart of the strike zone.

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Royals signaling Estévez needs time to get right

After Estévez threw 27 pitches on Saturday night and took a hard ground ball to the ankle from Michael Harris II, it seemed unlikely entering Sunday's series finale that he would pitch on back-to-back days.

But in saying as much, Royals manager Matt Quatraro also seemed to hint that Estévez might not close games for Kansas City in the short term while his velocity is still down.

“We would not be averse to putting him in a lower-leverage situation," Quatraro said on Sunday, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com.

While Sunday is just one game, Quatraro's comments could easily be taken to mean that the Royals are interested in allowing Estévez to work out of some more favorable lanes until he looks like the guy who slammed the door for Kansas City on so many occasions last year.

“I'm not going to say he wouldn't do it, but I also think would be probably smarter for us to try to build him a little bit in lower leverage first," Quatraro said, per Rogers.

Lucas Erceg was the Royals' closer for the second half of 2024 and excelled in the role, and Matt Strahm is a capable high-leverage man as well. No matter when it happens, the Royals need to see something close to the old version of Estévez before entrusting him the ninth inning again.