2025 MLB saves leader Estevéz to begin rehab assignment

KANSAS CITY -- The next step toward the Royals hopefully getting their bullpen back together will take place Tuesday night when Carlos Estévez begins his rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha.

But there are still plenty of questions to answer before the Royals reconfigure their ‘pen when Estévez returns. At the top of the list: What version of Estévez will they be getting?

Estévez’s struggles at the beginning of the season revolved around his velocity. His fastball was nowhere near the 95.9 mph he averaged in 2025 as the Royals’ closer. Instead, it hovered below 90 mph in Spring Training and averaged 91.2 mph in his first outing of the season, in which he threw 27 pitches (12 strikes), recorded one out and gave up a walk-off grand slam to the Braves on March 28.

Estévez was hit by a comebacker on his left foot in that outing, which gave him a contusion that put him on the 15-day injured list on April 1. He’s been building up since, including three live bullpen sessions in Arizona over the past week before feeling ready enough for a rehab assignment.

General manager J.J. Picollo said Estévez was in the 92-93 mph range with his velocity in Arizona, so all eyes will be on the radar gun when he pitches for Omaha on Tuesday to see whether the velocity is ticking up again. Command will also be crucial in assessing whether he’s ready to return.

“We’d like to see his velocity climb a little bit,” Picollo said. “He’s been in that 92-93 range in these live BPs, which is a great sign. We anticipate, when he gets under the lights in a game situation, we’ll probably see a little bit more. There will be better adrenaline than a live BP. But the other big part of it is command. He’s got to be able to command the ball. You put two things together with velocity that’s below the norm and command that’s below his norm, it’s a tough way to survive. But we’d like to see the command piece come along just as much as the velocity.”

Estévez will likely get several outings on a rehab assignment before the Royals discuss his return -- and what role he might appear in when he is back. Ideally, Estévez is showing the kind of velocity he showed last year and can slide right back into the closer role that he thrived in last season with Kansas City when he posted a 2.45 ERA with a Major League-best 42 saves.

If not, the Royals might discuss other roles.

“We haven’t discussed that yet,” Picollo said. “I think that’s something that as he gets closer, [manager Matt Quatraro] and I will have to sit down with [pitching coach] Brian Sweeney and decide how we want to do it. Some of it’s going to be: What does he look like in his rehab outings? If he looks like normal Carlos, he’s been a closer pretty much his whole career. If he looks like he’s still maybe [in] a little bit of a rehab type of setting but good enough to come help our team, maybe we ease into that. But that’s something we’ll have to discuss as this week progresses and we see how he’s doing.”

The Royals’ bullpen entered Monday night with a 5.03 ERA, the fifth-worst bullpen mark in MLB, although the unit has looked much stronger lately. In the nine games since April 24 prior to Monday, Royals relievers had a 1.52 ERA while holding opponents to a .157 average. A lot of that has to do with Lucas Erceg finding a groove as the closer; in his last six innings (six appearances) entering Monday, Erceg hasn’t allowed an earned run and has allowed just one hit, with a 36.4% strikeout percentage and 18.2% walk percentage. The Royals don’t have any problem continuing to rely on Erceg as their closer. His nine saves entering the opener were tied with the Yankees’ David Bednar for the most in the American League.

Daniel Lynch IV emerging as a high-leverage option for this team is also a huge bright spot, including watching the lefty earn a four-out save in Seattle on Sunday to secure to the sweep.

“We had high expectations for [the bullpen] early in the year,” Quatraro said. “You lose Carlos and things get shuffled around, and sometimes that takes a toll. … Now things have been more stable, guys have been in more solid roles, and you’ve seen the performance tick up.”

There’s no question the Royals have missed Estévez’s presence this season, not only on the mound but also as one of the most vocal leaders in the clubhouse and bullpen. They’ll welcome that back when he does return. But they also need him to be the reliever they relied on so heavily last season in the big moments.

If he is, they’ll feel even better about their ‘pen, no matter who is closing out games.

“I hope we have that issue and Carlos comes back as the guy he was last year because that would be great for all of us,” Quatraro said.