Velo down and control wobbly, Estévez stumbles but still has Royals' faith

ATLANTA – From velocity concerns to missing command to a comebacker that will leave a mark in more ways than one, the ninth-inning collapse the Royals endured Saturday night had pretty much everything they never asked for.

Closer Carlos Estévez entered the ninth inning with a two-run lead, but he walked off the field in defeat after Dominic Smith’s grand slam handed the Royals a 6-2 walk-off loss to the Braves at Truist Park on Saturday night.

“Just bad all around,” Estévez said. “I have to execute better.”

Game 2 of the season is not the time to slam the panic button, but Estévez’s performance Saturday did not ease any worries one might have about the Royals' closer after the velocity and command questions he faced all spring. After hovering around 89-90 mph this spring, Estévez still averaged only 91.2 mph with his fastball Saturday, down 4.7 mph from his average in 2025.

Estévez threw 27 pitches but just 12 strikes and registered one whiff.

“We’re still hopeful that it comes back,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “It was a little better today than it was at the end of Spring Training and in the exhibition games with the adrenaline going, but certainly not where he’s accustomed to it or where we are, either.”

Following six scoreless innings from starter Michael Wacha, and with the Kansas City offense finally showing some life after a 15-inning scoreless streak to begin the season, the Royals offered the first look at the back end of their bullpen. Matt Strahm pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Lucas Erceg followed with a scoreless eighth.

Estévez, as expected, jogged in for the ninth. The 33-year-old reliever posted a 2.45 ERA across 66 innings last year, his first with the Royals, and his 42 saves led MLB. There weren’t any questions about his role on the 2026 squad, no matter what happened in Spring Training.

“I trust and believe in him 100%,” catcher Salvador Perez said. “It’s just a bad one. I think he is going to figure out what’s going on, and it’s going to be better for us. He did it last year.”

A drop in spring velocity wasn’t new for Estévez, and all spring he maintained he felt good, confident the velocity would return with adrenaline. The Royals echoed that statement and put their faith in Estévez’s veteran track record.

On Saturday, Estévez’s first fastball to Drake Baldwin was 89.6 mph. Baldwin walked, Matt Olson singled and the Braves cut their deficit in half on Mike Yastrzemski’s one-out RBI single. Estévez walked Ozzie Albies but then got the double-play ball he was looking for from Michael Harris II – only to have the 103.5 mph comebacker hit Estévez on the left ankle.

X-rays on the contusion were negative, but it’ll be something the Royals will monitor.

The fastball Smith hit for a grand slam was 92.3 mph, tied for the hardest pitch Estévez threw Saturday but down the middle of the plate.

To Estévez, the velocity matters less than the shaky command and feeling off with his mechanics. To not have all three, though, is the issue.

“I feel like even if I execute my pitches at the velocity that I have, I’m going to get my outs,” Estévez said. “... If I can dominate at 92, pounding the strike zone, and I can do the same thing at 98, it’s going to be a lot tougher.

“I have always been a power pitcher. Usually my career has been dependent on it. But even knowing that my last few years I’ve been kind of low in my velo to start the year, I still find a way to pitch through it and get to the spot I want. I think it’s important, but I'm not going crazy about it. I know it’s going to be there.”

Estévez did have lower velo in Spring Training last year, compounded by a lower back injury that delayed him early in camp. But Estévez averaged 94.2 mph on March 27, 2025, his season debut with the Royals. His slowest fastball that day was 93.2 mph. He averaged 95.3 mph in his third outing and first road appearance last year, on April 2, topping out at 97.1 mph that day (which was also a blown save against the Brewers).

The Royals are not shying away from the fact that they need to see Estévez’s velocity return. He “absolutely” needs it, Quatraro said Saturday.

They are pushing back, at least publicly, on any thought that they’ve lost their faith in him.

“We talked about it a lot – we hope the velocity comes,” Quatraro said. “That’s a big difference from throwing 91 to 97-98 like he does. You can have a lot more margin for error that way. But we’re not going to run from him.”