KANSAS CITY -- Carlos Estévez began his rehab assignment on Wednesday in hopes of looking more like the closer the Royals relied on so heavily at the back end of the bullpen in 2025.
Three batters into the outing with Triple-A Omaha, Estévez was exiting with shoulder discomfort, motioning to his right arm as a trainer came out for a mound visit.
Estévez was traveling back from Indianapolis, where the Storm Chasers were playing, on Wednesday. He'll undergo further testing and evaluation on Thursday, manager Matt Quatraro said after the Royals’ 3-1 loss to the Guardians on Wednesday night.
"Talking to him on the phone, he didn’t seem overly concerned,” Quatraro said. “He just didn’t want to push through it [because it] was his first outing.”
Estévez has been sidelined since April 1 with a left foot contusion after he was hit by a comebacker during his March 28 outing against the Braves, but he was also dealing with decreased velocity and command issues throughout Spring Training and that first appearance of the season.
After a month of rehab in Kansas City, he was in Arizona last week facing live hitters for the first time, but the real test came on Wednesday when he began his rehab assignment with the Storm Chasers, who are in Indianapolis this week.
In terms of the velocity, it was not better than what Estévez showed in the spring and his season debut back in March: He averaged 90 mph with his four-seam fastball on Wednesday – a pitch he averaged 95.9 mph with last season. His changeup registered at 81.2 mph, while his slider clocked in at an 81.4 mph on average.
Estévez recorded two outs in between a walk in the bottom of the sixth inning. His last pitch to Nick Cimillo was an 88.5 mph fastball that Cimillo popped up to first baseman Abraham Toro. After that out, Estévez took his time getting back to the mound, alerting the Omaha dugout and bringing out a trainer. Estévez opened and closed his right hand and grabbed the trainer’s hand to squeeze it. Then Estévez grabbed an area around his armpit/tricep on his right arm before exiting the game.
Estévez will undergo further assessment on the injury sustained Wednesday, but there’s no doubt this is an unfortunate turn to his recovery and the Royals’ hopes that he’d look more like himself -- the closer who posted a 2.45 ERA and led MLB in saves (42) last season -- when he got back on the mound.
While the bullpen has stabilized with Lucas Erceg as the closer, getting Estévez back to his normal form is a boost the Royals would welcome for their ‘pen and team overall.
Now, they’ll await further information on what Estévez is dealing with and how severe a setback it might be.