Originally posted by Math
Closers I'm Worried About
Carlos Estevez, Royals: The warning signs were flashing bright red with Estevez throughout spring training, as his velocity was down not just the one or two ticks you often see with veteran pitchers easing into the season but a full six or seven miles per hour. That sort of drop tends to mean a pitcher is dealing with an injury which hasn't yet been reported (or even one that hasn't yet been discovered), but even if this is merely a sudden mechanical issue and Estevez is full healthy, he isn't going to be a trustworthy closer until that velocity returns.Estevez's fastball velocity did creep back up to 91.3 mph in his season debut Saturday, the hardest he's thrown yet this season, but that's still far below the 96.1 mph he averaged last season. The results were disastrous as well, as he retired just one of the seven batters he faced and allowed six runs, including a game-losing grand slam to Dominic Smith. The Royals need to take Estevez out of the firing line as soon as possible if they have aspirations of making the playoffs this year, and it looks like that might be happening sooner rather than later, with manager Matt Quataro saying, "We're not averse to putting him in a lower leverage situation."
Worry-o-meter: 5 out of 5. Maybe 6 out of 5.
Setup man to stash: Lucas Erceg. Matt Strahm pitched the seventh inning Saturday while Erceg pitched the eighth before Estevez imploded in the ninth. With Estevez unavailable Sunday (nominally because he took a liner off his ankle Saturday), Strahm recorded the last two outs in the seventh, while John Schreiber pitched the eighth and Erceg got the save in the ninth. That pretty clearly indicates that Erceg is the next man up, and it was good to see him regain the tick of velocity that he lost last season. Erceg may have the job already, so pick him up wherever he's available if you need saves.
