The nightmare season continues Carlos Estévez. Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that the Royals closer is suffering from a rotator cuff strain and will be sidelined from throwing for three weeks. He will be re-evaluated at the end of May.
Estévez has been inactive since Opening Day. He took a Michael Harris II who returned to his left foot on his first trip. That led to him being distracted for more than a month. The Royals sent him to Triple-A Omaha last night to begin a minor league rehab assignment. Estévez threw 14 pitches and recorded two outs before reporting shoulder discomfort.
Obviously you will be taken out of the recovery assignment and you are essentially starting the recovery process from scratch. Even if he is cleared to resume pitching in three weeks, he will need to progress through a series of bullpen and live batting practice sessions before he is ready to begin a new rehab assignment. That points to mid-to-late June as the earliest possible return date. He’ll be a candidate to move to the 60-day IL if they need to clear a 40-man roster spot, or the Royals will likely move. Jonathan India (season-ending labrum surgery) when it started.
Estévez did not look good at any point in 2026. Even when he appeared healthy during Spring Training and the World Baseball Classic, his velocity was nowhere near normal levels. Estévez averaged 89.4 mph on his four-seam fastball in five spring appearances, nearly seven ticks below last year’s rate. Pitchers typically build some velocity as they get into game mode and play in high-pressure settings during the regular season, but that kind of one-season slump is extremely rare. Estévez averaged 91 mph in his regular season debut before suffering a foot injury.
The bullpen looked to be a strength for the Royals entering the spring. Estévez led the Majors with 42 saves last year. He posted a 2.45 earned run average for the second straight season. While last year’s low 20.1% strikeout rate and 8.2% swing mark were red flags, he would be locked in as closer Matt Quatraro.
Estévez’s absence has pushed Lucas Erceg until the ninth. He held his own, going 10-12 in save opportunities while allowing six earned runs in 15 1/3 innings. However, Erceg is missing the lowest number of at-bats of his career while struggling to find hitters to increase the strike zone. He fell behind early in the count and went 11 for 62 (17.7%). Erceg worked a lot with free passes, but he doesn’t leave many mistakes for the sake of error.
The Kansas City Bulls overall own a 4.80 earned run average that ranks 24th in MLB. Only Cincinnati’s pitchers have issued a higher rate of walks, while ranking in the bottom third of the league in strikeouts and strikeouts. They have improved of late following a poor league start to the season, but only just Daniel Lynch IV again Matt Strahm have solid base numbers.
Estévez is the team’s highest-paid reliever, making $10MM in the second season of his $22MM free agent contract. The Royals hold a $13MM option for next year that comes with a $2MM buyout. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to see them using that, meaning the two-time All-Star will return to free agency at the end of the year.
