Royals closer Estévez placed on IL after taking comebacker off foot

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals placed Carlos Estévez on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday with a bruised left foot, a move the Royals hope will not only help their closer heal physically but get right with the mechanical and velocity issues that have led to a bumpy start to 2026.

The move is retroactive to Sunday, and in a corresponding move, Kansas City recalled righty Steven Cruz from Triple-A Omaha. The 26-year-old Cruz pitched only once in Omaha’s opening series this past weekend, allowing two runs in an inning. But he posted a 1.59 ERA in 5 2/3 Cactus League innings this spring.

Estévez was struck just below the ankle by a 103.5 mph comebacker from the Braves' Michael Harris II during a save opportunity in the ninth inning of Saturday's 6-2 loss at Truist Park. He remained in the game but ended up taking the loss after allowing six runs in one-third of an inning -- the final blow coming on a walk-off grand slam by Dom Smith.

X-rays on Estévez's foot after the game were negative, but the contusion was significant enough that Estévez has been in a protective walking boot since then. He played catch on Monday, and landing on his foot was painful once he began to throw with intensity past 60 feet.

“It’s just like under the ankle, around the heel, so it’s hard to push off and stand on one leg after I make a pitch,” Estévez said. “We were hoping it went away basically, but it didn’t.”

The IL stint will probably do Estévez some good beyond making sure he’s healthy enough to pitch. It’ll give him time to iron out the velocity concerns that have followed him into the season after another slow spring.

After hovering around 89-90 mph during Spring Training, he averaged only 91.2 mph with his fastball Saturday, down 4.7 mph from his 2025 average. He also struggled with command, throwing only 12 strikes among 27 pitches and recording just one swing and miss.

The Royals have been hopeful that Estévez's velocity will return to normal; he started last spring slowly, too, but the velocity jumped up once the season began. That wasn’t the case Saturday, and the 33-year-old was more concerned with his command and mechanics, which have been out of whack since coming back from the World Baseball Classic.

While Estévez is on the IL, he’ll be able to continue to keep his arm going by playing light catch and also work on his mechanics through dry work – delivery and tempo routines without a baseball.

“I need to do my dry work to work on my delivery, and [the Royals’ training staff] said they’ll find a way to do that,” Estévez said. They just don’t want me on my foot as much, which is why I’m wearing a boot.”

Once the contusion heals, Estévez will build back up and likely go on a rehab assignment to continue to get reps before he returns to Kansas City.

“Carlos needs to pitch,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s a guy that likes to throw. He throws a lot, and the more games we get him in, the better he’s going to be. Hopefully these things help us in both ways, [and] he gets healthy because we’re not going to go where we want to go without him being a big part of that bullpen.”

In Estévez’s absence, the Royals will likely turn to Lucas Erceg for save situations, although they prefer to use him in the highest-leverage situations possible, so that could mean bringing him in the eighth if the heart of an opposing lineup is due up to bat. The Royals can also turn to Matt Strahm or John Schreiber if Erceg isn’t available for the ninth.

“We really like Lucas at the back-end,” Quatraro said. “But if there’s a huge spot in the eighth, he’s going to be in there for that as well. He’s well aware of that. But we have guys that we feel confident in matching up in any of the mid-to-late innings.”

There’s no denying that the Royals need Estévez to be as reliable as he was last season, when he posted a 2.45 ERA and an MLB-best 42 saves in his first season as a Royal. But first they need him to be as healthy and as effective as he was then, too.

“I hate being on the IL,” said Estévez, who was last on the IL in 2021 with the Rockies. “But at the same time, I’ll be cheering for them. And I’ll work on getting better.”