Carlos Estevez

33-Year-Old PitcherRP

Kansas City Royals

Day-To-Day

Injury Ankle

2026 Stats

W-L

0-1

ERA

162.00

WHIP

18.00

Rest-of-Season Projections

W-L

ERA

WHIP

Unlock Our Projections

2026 Fantasy Outlook

Estevez led MLB with a career-high 42 saves in 2025, while his 89.4 percent team save share for Kansas City was highest among closers. One might not expect these accomplishments looking solely at Estevez's Statcast page - particularly his career-low 20.1 percent strikeout rate that was well below league average - but the 32-year-old made it work thanks to the spacious dimensions of Kauffman Stadium. Estevez's home park was toughest in the league for left-handed batters to a hit home run and was the 4th-toughest overall. This paired well with Estevez's 51.6 fly ball percentage; the 9th-highest mark among qualified relievers. Surprisingly, the right-hander's splits away from Kauffman Stadium were pretty similar to his results at home, but four of the five home runs he allowed last season were on the road. Estevez will earn $10M in 2026 and should continue to close for the Royals, but he could become a trade candidate since the team holds a $13M option for 2027 with a $2M buyout. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

Rest of Season

Overall Rank

Dynasty

From Preseason

#108

ADP

League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'6"

Weight 275

DOB 12/28/1992

Born Santo Domingo, DR

College None

Drafted 2011 COL

Unlikely to be used Sunday

PKansas City Royals

Ankle

March 29, 2026

Royals manager Matt Quatraro said that he would be "surprised" if Estevez is available out of the bullpen for Sunday's game in Atlanta, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Analysis
Estevez was seen wearing a walking boot Sunday after taking a line drive off his left ankle Saturday, when he suffered a blown save after allowing six earned runs while recording just one out in the Royals' 6-2 loss. Though Estevez been diagnosed with nothing more than a contusion after getting X-rays on his ankle, the Royals appear content to stay away from the 33-year-old reliever, at least for one day. Per Joel Goldberg of Bally Sports Kansas City, Quatraro added that he's "not averse to putting [Estevez] in a lower-leverage situation" once he's deemed available, which suggests that the right-hander may not have a stranglehold on the closer's gig after Saturday's blowup. Before the rough showing in his season debut, Estevez was coming off a discouraging spring training in which he noticed a steep decline in his velocity.

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Pitching Stats

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2026 MLB Game Log

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2024

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2021

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2017

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Pitching Appearances Breakdown

Average Pitch Count

Last 10 Games

Last 5 Games

How many pitches does Carlos Estevez generally throw?

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

61-70

71-80

81-90

91-100

101-110

111-120

121+

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

61-70

71-80

81-90

91-100

101-110

111-120

121+

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

61-70

71-80

81-90

91-100

101-110

111-120

121+

What part of the game does Carlos Estevez generally pitch?

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

Extra

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

Extra

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

Extra

% Games Reaching Innings Threshold

% Games By Number of Innings Pitched

Left/Right Pitching Splits

Since 2024

-25%

BAA vs RHP

2026

-100%

BAA vs RHP

2025

-23%

BAA vs RHP

2024

-15%

BAA vs RHP

	BAA	Batters	K	BB	H	2B	3B	HR
Since 2024vs Left	.230	258	54	25	53	7	1	7
Since 2024vs Right	.173	230	50	11	37	9	2	4
2026vs Left	1.000	6	0	2	4	0	0	1
2026vs Right	.000	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2025vs Left	.223	149	29	16	29	5	1	3
2025vs Right	.171	120	25	6	19	6	0	2
2024vs Left	.208	103	25	7	20	2	0	3
2024vs Right	.176	109	25	5	18	3	2	2
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Home/Away Pitching Splits

Since 2024

-9%

ERA at Home

2026

-100%

ERA at Home

2025

-2%

ERA on Road

2024

-51%

ERA on Road

	ERA	WHIP	IP	W	L	SV	K/9	BB/9	HR/9
Since 2024Home	2.78	0.91	68.0	6	4	36	7.0	1.6	0.8
Since 2024Away	3.04	1.20	53.1	2	7	32	8.6	4.1	0.8
2026Home	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2026Away	162.00	18.00	.333333	0	1	0	0.0	54.0	27.0
2025Home	2.48	1.02	36.1	2	2	23	6.4	2.7	0.2
2025Away	2.43	1.11	29.2	2	3	19	8.5	3.3	1.2
2024Home	3.13	0.79	31.2	4	2	13	7.7	0.3	1.4
2024Away	1.54	1.07	23.1	0	3	13	8.9	4.2	0.0
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Stat Review

How does Carlos Estevez compare to other relievers?

This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

K/BB

2.45

K/9

7.4

BB/9

3.0

HR/9

0.7

Fastball

95.9 mph

ERA

2.45

WHIP

1.06

BABIP

.246

GB/FB

0.55

Left On Base

76.2%

Exit Velocity

82.7 mph

Barrels/BBE

6.8%

Spin Rate

2105 rpm

Balls Hit 95+ MPH

22.3%

Swinging Strike

8.4%

Advanced Pitching Stats

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Defensive Stats

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Stats Vs Today's Lineup

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2017

Estevez was one of the top closers available at last year's trade deadline, posting an elite 2.38 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and 20 saves with the Angels before he was traded to Philadelphia. The 31-year-old tallied six more saves with the Phillies and ended 2024 with career-best marks in ERA (2.45) and WHIP (0.91). In addition, Estevez significantly improved his walk rate, lowering it by 5.3 percentage points to 5.7 percent overall. If his improved control sticks, Estevez could once again approach 30 saves, but it's not a given that the 2025 free agent will land a job as a closer. However, with 86 career saves, he should compete for ninth-inning duties wherever he lands.

Despite only recording two of the Angels' first seven saves, Estevez went on to convert a career-best 31 of the team's 43 total saves for a 72.1% team share that was ninth-highest among relievers. The hard-throwing right-hander quickly put a disastrous spring behind him to record a 1.50 ERA and 1.13 WHIP over the first two months of the season. He maintained solid ratios through the end of July, even earning his first All-Star selection, but he posted abhorrent numbers over the final two months to finish the year with a disappointing 3.90 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. The 31-year-old produced a career-best 27.8% strikeout rate thanks to his upper-90's fastball, but he also struggled with his command and control, as his 11% walk rate was his worst since his rookie season. Estevez is a wild card for fantasy purposes since he's in the final year of his contract with the Angels. He may open 2024 as LA's closer, but performance risk and/or a possible trade do not inspire much confidence.

Estevez signed a 2-year, $13.5 million deal with the Angels after logging a career-best 3.47 ERA and 1.18 WHIP over 57 innings during his final season in Colorado. The right-hander throws his 98 mph fastball roughly 71% of the time, while occasionally mixing in a slider (15%) and changeup (14%) that were more effective in 2022 than they have been in recent years. Estevez's stock should improve a bit now that he's away from Coors Field, where he had a 5.57 ERA and 1.54 WHIP for his career compared to a 3.51 ERA and 1.26 WHIP elsewhere. Save opportunities are likely with his new club, though manager Phil Nevin may deploy a closer committee to start the 2023 season. If Los Angeles does not contend this season, look for the club to trade away veteran Ryan Tepera, who is a free-agent after the season. This would potentially open up more save chances for Estevez in the second half.

Estevez ranked 20th among 2021 qualified relievers with a 1.69 gmLI, which also made him Colorado's highest-leverage reliever last season. He didn't open the year in the closer role, but went 11-for-17 in save chances while posting a 4.38 ERA and 1.49 WHIP over 61.2 innings (64 appearances). He also recorded three wins and a career-high 15 holds while posting the second-best walk rate (7.8%) of his career. Estevez brings upper-90s heat with his fastball, but his changeup and slider have been really ineffective the past two seasons. If he improves those secondary offerings, or gets out of Colorado -- Estevez owns a career 3.51 ERA away from Coors Field compared to a 6.04 ERA otherwise -- he could improve his stock considerably. Estevez remains in the mix to close for Colorado, but Alex Colome is likely the favorite for the job after signing in March.

Estevez was dominant to begin the season as he allowed just one run over 9.1 innings during the season. However, he struggled mightily over the second half of the campaign as he finished the year with a career-worst 7.50 ERA and 1.75 WHIP over 24 innings. The Rockies' closer role was up for grabs for most of the season, and Estevez had several chances to work out of the ninth inning in 2020. However, he converted on just one of his four save chances and failed to secure the job. Many of his struggles came via the long ball, as his 2.25 HR/9 ranked ninth-worst among qualified relievers last season, and he had a 44.2% hard-hit rate that was seventh-worst among qualified relievers. Estevez could have the chance to compete for the closing gig again in 2021 if he can turn things around during the offseason, but his past results suggest that the Rockies could be better off turning toward other options.

Estevez spent the entire 2019 season in the big leagues and had his best season so far, finishing with a 3.75 ERA in 72 innings. That's not a particularly impressive number in a vacuum, but given Coors Field and the juiced ball, it was good for an ERA- of 74. It was also good for second-best on the team among pitchers who threw at least 11 innings, trailing only Scott Oberg. His performance was backed up by a solid 26.3% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate. The Rockies are likely to have some uncertainty in the back of their bullpen again this season, so Estevez's 2019 numbers make him a decent candidate for save speculation during draft season. That speculation should probably be limited to drafts in leagues that are quite deep, however, given that Estevez has only had one good season and still calls Coors Field home.

Coming into 2016, Estevez hadn't seen any action above the Double-A level. By the end of the season, however, he was one of the most heavily-used relievers in the Rockies' bullpen. The right-hander made his first appearance in the majors in April, and although his ERA was nothing spectacular, he came out of the gate striking out over a batter per inning. This success led manager Walt Weiss to designate him as the Rockies' closer after Jake McGee got injured, a role he retained into early August. The wheels began to come off, though, as the 23-year-old stumbled to the finish line to conclude the season with a 5.24 ERA and 1.42 WHIP. However, Estevez showed plenty of promise this season, so if he can maintain his high K/9 (9.7 in 2016) and stay sharp over the entire course of the season, he could work his way back into a fairly prominent position in the bullpen hierarchy.

More Fantasy News

X-rays negative on ankle

PKansas City Royals

Ankle

March 29, 2026

Estevez had X-rays come back negative on his left ankle after being struck by a comebacker during Saturday's loss to Atlanta, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.