One minute, you’re flying high, nearing the league lead in saves and representing the American League in the All-Star Game. The next, you’re walking batters at a 16.7% rate and struggling to encourage opponents to swing out of the zone.
The life of a reliever.
Kansas City’s witnessed up-and-down moments from its ninth-inning man in 2025, offseason signing Carlos Estevez, who on one hand is second in MLB with 30 saves — behind only San Diego’s Robert Suarez with 33 — but on the other owns a 6.35 August ERA with a pair of losses on his resume.
The Royals can ill afford giving games away, not with a four-game deficit in the AL Wild Card race and 6.9% chance of making the postseason, according to FanGraphs. Yet, Estevez has been charged with the loss twice in the last week, once in 11 innings in Minnesota and again Wednesday to put a damper on a wild comeback against Washington while gunning for a sweep of the Nats.
So what’s going on with Estevez, and why is it happening now?
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