Perhaps no position is more volatile in Major League Baseball than the closer role, so Kansas City Royals fans understandably have their guard up.
For the second-straight season since he signed with the Royals as a free agent, Carlos Estévez came into camp posting significantly slower fastball velocities than he averaged during the previous regular season. The good news was that he bounced back to his norm last offseason, but that’s not a guarantee that it happens again with another season of wear and tear.
As the reigning major league saves leader enters his age-33 season, his organization still seems exceptionally confident in his ability to get the job done, which probably involves him rediscovering that velocity once again.
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Royals not sounding alarm on Estévez
Though Estévez was sitting between 88-90 mph with his fastball during Wednesday’s spring training outing, general manager J.J. Picollo indicated the next day that he wasn’t ready to hit the panic button, suggesting this was the norm with the two-time All-Star.
“It’s hard not to notice it but we also had the experience of last year, and we went through the same thing,” Picollo told Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star. “And I think last year we were a little bit more nervous about it, because we hadn’t been with him before.
“But not only did he tell us that this is how he always starts in spring training, but the other clubs he had been with, our coaches called their coaches and asked, ‘Is this normal?’ And they confirmed it for us. So while you would like to see him more in the 91-92 range right now, this is exactly where he was last year.”
During the regular season last year, Estévez averaged 95.9 mph with his four-seam fastball, which ranked in the 76th percentile of all pitchers tracked by Baseball Savant. While he doesn’t necessarily need to be at that number from day one, it would raise some red flags if he’s not sitting close to that number within a couple of months.
To make it back to the playoffs this year, the Royals definitely need similar consistency from the closer role that Estévez provided in 2025. Velocity will remain a talking point for the time being, but as Picollo hinted, there’s not yet reason for panic.
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