Carlos Estévez Fantasy Stats

Kansas City Royals closer Carlos Estevez (back) left Sunday's game with mild back tightness, reports Anne Rogers of MLB.com. He walked one and recorded two outs in eight pitches in the ninth before being pulled in favor of Luinder Avila. After the game, the 32-year-old said he was fine with coming out of the game, but he's pitched with worse. That makes the move seem primarily precautionary, especially considering the Royals had a seven-run lead over the Phillies at the time. Estevez has been one of the most reliable closers in baseball this season, recording 39 saves while posting a 2.43 ERA.

Kansas City Royals closer Carlos Estevez picked up his MLB-leading 37th save of the season on Thursday in his team's 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Estevez allowed one hit but worked around it and recorded two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning. In his first season with the Royals, the 32-year-old has converted 37 out of 43 save chances while pitching to a 2.54 ERA with 52 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings. With just a 22.4% K-BB ratio, Estevez does not have dominant underlying numbers. However, the veteran has now recorded at least 26 saves in each of the last three seasons and remains a must-start fantasy closer.

Kansas City Royals closer Carlos Estevez converted his 30th save of the season in Monday's 7-4 win over the Nationals. Estevez came in to pitch the top of the ninth inning up by three. He got the first two outs on a ground-out and a fly-out, allowed a walk, and ended the game with another ground-out. The 32-year-old has been a high-floor fantasy option once again this season, converting 30 of 36 save opportunities with a 2.81 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, and a 7.36 K/9 rate in 51 1/3 innings of work. His strikeout numbers may not be as strong as other closers, but he is currently second in baseball in saves.

Kansas City Royals closer Carlos Estevez (4-3) blew a save and took the loss in an 8-7 heartbreaker against the Miami Marlins on Friday. After the Royals took a 7-5 lead in the top of the 10th inning, Estevez was unable to close the door on the Marlins in a costly defeat. Estevez retired the first hitter he faced, but the right-hander allowed the automatic runner to score on an Agustin Ramirez RBI single and then surrendered a walk-off homer to All-Star Kyle Stowers. The 32-year-old now has six blown saves, three of which have come over his past four appearances, and has yielded five earned runs in 7 2/3 innings this month. While Estevez still has 25 saves and a 2.76 ERA over 42 1/3 frames, his underwhelming 35:15 K:BB isn't befitting of a lights-out closer. He may end the season in a setup role if the Royals deal him before the July 31 trade deadline.

MLB.com's Francys Romero reported on Thursday that Kansas City Royals reliever Carlos Estevez might be one of the bullpen pitchers drawing the most interest. Teams like the Yankees have been keeping an eye on him in recent months, per sources. The Royals have underachieved thus far this season, and it appears that the Detroit Tigers could be running away with the division, meaning the Royals may be inclined to trade their 32-year-old closer, who is having an excellent season with a 2.36 ERA and 25 saves. At this point, it's unclear what other teams are considering him, but depending on where Estevez lands, it's possible it could alter his role. That being said, he is second in MLB in saves. Making it hard to imagine that whatever team potentially acquires him would not deploy him as their closer; however, fantasy managers will want to keep their eyes on what happens with Estevez as the trade deadline approaches at the end of July.

Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Carlos Estevez blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning for his fifth blown save of the season on Sunday, but ended up picking up his fourth win thanks to a walk-off single by Nick Loftin in the bottom of the inning. He allowed a double and a triple to start the frame, before eventually letting in the tying run on a sacrifice fly. This was the 32-year-old's second blown save in a row, as he came into Friday's game in a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and gave up a bases-clearing double. Still, he'll carry a 2.36 ERA into the All-Star break and doesn't look to be in danger of losing his job.

Kansas City Royals closer Carlos Estevez finished off a 4-3 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday to pick up his 25th save. The right-hander worked around a one-out single by Adam Frazier to throw a scoreless ninth inning with one strikeout on 16 pitches (11 strikes). The 32-year-old remains well on his way to his second 30-save season, and he's easily on pace to eclipse the career-high 31 he totaled in 2023. Estevez also has a sparkling 2.03 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP over 40 innings, though he hasn't been a great source of strikeouts (33).

Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Carlos Estevez was called upon earlier than normal during Thursday's game against the Seattle Mariners. Estevez was asked to get the final out of the eighth inning, which he did without a problem. However, Dominic Canzone hit a leadoff home run to start the ninth inning off Estevez. The right-hander put two runners in scoring position before retiring Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh to end the game. Estevez holds a 2.19 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 32/14 K/BB ratio with 24 saves this season. He's deserving of an All-Star appearance and is someone that should be rostered in all fantasy formats.

Kansas City Royals closer Carlos Estevez continued his solid season in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Mariners, picking up his 23rd save of the season. Estevez came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning up by three and shut things down with a 1-2-3 inning. The 32-year-old hasn't posted the gaudiest numbers, but he has been consistent, converting all but three of his save opportunities with a 2.02 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP, a 7.57 K/9 rate, and a 3.53 BB/9 rate in 35 2/3 innings of work. Again, Estevez may not provide the strikeout numbers of some other high-end closers, but he is now tied for second in saves in baseball. He should continue to offer a high fantasy floor despite the Royals' lackluster performance overall.

Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Carlos Estevez closed out his team's shutout of Chicago to earn his 10th save of the season in 12 save opportunities. He allowed one hit but no runs while lowering his ERA to 2.25 in his 15 games. He has worked a total of 16 innings and has 13 strikeouts along with nine walks and nine hits allowed. The Royals signed Estevez to a big offseason contract to be their primary closer, and so far, he has been very solid in the role. He has pitched scoreless innings for saves in each of his last five appearances and really just had one disastrous outing against the Rockies. He's fairly secure in his role and should be one of the better closers in the American League going forward.