Carlos Estévez 40 saves, Bailey Falter rehab, Columbia Fireflies loss

After dropping their eighth game in their last 11, the Kansas City Royals have fallen to place in the standings to where they’re all but out of the postseason mix.

This means the excitement of a potential postseason berth isn’t what’s fueling the headlines these days. In fact recently it’s been the injured list that’s been driving news lately with numerous names coming off shelf only to have numerous names take their places.

However, there’s still several other headlines Royals fans should be aware of as the 2025 season winds down, from franchise milestones, to rehab assignments, to minor league news.

Royals News: Carlos Estévez reaches 40 saves, joins some great Royals company

In case you missed it, to conclude Wednesday’s rare trip to the win column for the Royals, closer Carlos Estévez notched his 40th save of the season.

Not only has he demolished his previous career high while simultaneously leading the major leagues in saves this season, but he joins a group of Royals greats in an exclusive category.

Estévez became just the fifth Royals closer of all-time to eclipse the 40 save mark in a season, and it was just the eighth individual time it’s occurred in franchise history altogether. He joined the likes of Greg Holland, Jeff Montgomery, Dan Quisenberry and Joakim Soria.

On top of his 40 saves, Estévez has crafted an all around excellent debut campaign, certainly worthy of his second career All-Star nod. In 64.0 innings across 65 outings, he’s thrown to a 2.53 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and .199 BAA.

Royals News: Bailey Falter set to begin rehab assignment in Triple-A Omaha

In light of all the injury news affecting the Royals latetly, they were able to recieve a promising update, as lefty Bailey Falter was announced to be starting a rehab assignment in Triple-A Omaha on Thursday.

Falter was one of the Royals’ key additions at the trade deadline, acquiring him at the 11th hour of deadline day from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Before hitting the 15-day IL in late August with a left bicep contusion, the veteran southpaw hadn’t gotten off to the greatest of starts with his new squad, throwing to an 11.25 ERA, 2.25 WHIP and .370 BAA in four outings, being demoted to the bullpen in the process.

It remains to be seen what role he will play if and when he gets back to the Royals, but considering he has three years of remaining team control, it’s an encouraging sign to see what could be a key piece for the future get some more looks this season, even if it ends up just being in Omaha.

Royals News: Royals Low-A affiliate comes up short in Carolina League Championship Series

Rounding off on a melancholy note, the Royals Low-A affiliate, the Columbia Fireflies, were unfortuantely unable to take home some hardware on Wednesday, dropping Game 3 of the Carolina League Championship Series to the Lynchburg Hillcats 8-2.

Even with prized teenaged prospect Kendry Chourio hitting the bump, fresh of an electrifying postseason performance over the weekend, the Fireflies had no answers for the Hillcats offense. In fact Chourio, who ended up with the loss, had a rather rough outing, going just 2.1 innings surrendering four earned runs off five hits, one homer and two walks.

And other than a handful of names, including their two promising catching prospects Ramon Ramirez and Hyungchan Um, the offense had trouble really stringing things together overall.

All in all though, for their first time in the postseason in franchise history, it was magical run to cap off an impressive season for Fireflies, with plenty of names coming through Columbia that the Royals faithful should be excited about in the coming years.