Friday, August 29

CHICAGO -- The day the Royals knew they had a special reliever occupying the back end of their bullpen came on a day he pitched twice.

Just a few hours after Carlos Estévez recorded a blown save in the Royals’ Game 1 loss against the Cardinals on June 5 at Busch Stadium -- a walk-off single from Willson Contreras in the bottom of the 10th inning -- Estévez was running in from the ‘pen in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 2. He shut down the same part of the order he faced in Game 1, but this time, it didn’t get to Contreras.

Estévez notched his 18th save of the season instead.

“Oh yeah, I remember that day. The whole time that [Game 2] was playing out, I was just like, ‘Get me into this game,’” Estévez said. “I was praying. I couldn’t wait. And it was funny because it was the same guys, and a 1-2-3 inning. I was like, ‘There we go. I can put this day behind me.’

“I remember that [pitching coach] Brian Sweeney didn’t even come talk to me in between games, no one was talking to me. I was really mad about that first game. But then when we went out to the bullpen for Game 2, I told them I was good to go.”

Estévez might have put the day behind him, but his teammates have not forgotten about it, in part because of how quickly he moved on from the first outing that lost a game to help earn a split of the doubleheader later that night. When the Royals' closer surpassed his career high in saves last week, that day was brought up several times to describe the impact Estévez has had in his first year in Kansas City.

“That was a catalyst for me, I think,” said Daniel Lynch IV, who is still learning the transition from starting to relieving. “It helped me to see, like, ‘Dude, you got to want to have the next one.' Especially after a rough one. That’s how you get better. You can’t be living in fear.”

With a 2.62 ERA this season, Estévez is up to 35 saves now, tied for most in the Majors with Padres righty Robert Suarez. It’s four more saves than Estévez had in 2023 with the Angels, and he still has a month left of the season. The 32-year-old All-Star is not perfect, with six blown saves, but he has an 85.4% save percentage and has saved 35 of Kansas City’s 69 wins (50.7%).

Estévez is attempting to become the third pitcher in Royals history to lead the American League in saves, and he would join Dan Quisenberry (1980, 1982-85) and Jeff Montgomery (1993).

While Estévez doesn’t blow his stuff by hitters, he does throw strikes and knows how to keep hitters off balance. More than anything, his impact has come in his availability, his ability to move quickly past the bad -- and, because of the nature of his role and when he’s pitching, game-altering -- outings, and his presence out in the bullpen and in the clubhouse. There are certain personalities that just make a roster click, and Estévez is one of them for the Royals this year.

Plus, he’s taken young relievers like Angel Zerpa and Steven Cruz under his wing. Lynch has learned more about life as a reliever from Estévez. Lucas Erceg has taken notes on durability and availability.

“He’s been great for me as I learn to pitch in the important situations, how to handle the bad outings and get ready for the next one,” Zerpa said.

As the Royals push for a playoff spot, they’re going to need all of their relievers -- and have been leaning on them a lot already -- Erceg and Estévez high on that list as their two highest-leverage arms for late, close games.

Estévez is hoping that number of saves just keeps going up. That means the Royals are winning games.

“I want to get as many as I can,” he said. “Numbers mean a lot in baseball, but I’m not chasing certain numbers. At the same time, I’m just glad and happy that I have gotten the opportunity to do it.”

This year is far from over for the Royals, but MLB released its 2026 schedule this week. Among notable dates:

• Opening Day: March 26 against the Braves at Truist Park

• Home opener: March 30 against the Twins

• Regular-season finale: Sept. 27 against the Guardians at Kauffman Stadium 

With Kansas City as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Royals had to take that schedule into consideration when finalizing their own schedule, as Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium, where the World Cup games will be held, share a parking lot at the Truman Sports Complex.

Two home series will be impacted. The Royals will host a three-game series against the Cardinals beginning on Thursday, June 18, but will have an off-day on that Saturday, June 20, because of a World Cup game that day. The series will conclude on Sunday, June 21.

The same goes for the beginning of July, with the Royals off on Friday, July 3, before a three-game series against the Phillies from July 4-6.

The Royals will be on the road for the rest of the World Cup games, but the tournament will likely affect gameday logistics. The team plans to reveal those details and what to expect early next year.

Ready for the stretch run?

The Royals are beginning their penultimate homestand this weekend, with nine games against the Tigers, Angels and Twins as the calendar flips to September, the final month of the regular season. They’ve got 28 games left to make their playoff push, and 15 of those are at The K in front of their home fans.

Some homestand highlights to look for over the next week:

• Friday: Collector card series, Bobby Witt Jr. bobblehead giveaway

• Saturday: Hawaiian shirt giveaway 

• Sept. 6: Viva Los Royals theme night 

To subscribe to Royals Beat, visit this page and mark "Royals Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Royals or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2025 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (mlb-newsletters@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.