PHILADELPHIA -- Royals closer Carlos Estévez left Kansas City’s 10-3 win over the Phillies on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park with mild back tightness, but both the club and Estévez considered the early exit very precautionary.
“It’s really mild back tightness, and he was having trouble getting loose a little bit,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He said he felt it right before he came out of the bullpen but didn’t say anything, and just kind of noticed it after. Didn’t want to cut it loose. But it’s very mild. The exam was good, so we don’t think it’s going be anything.”
Estévez felt some cramping right when he was entering the game but said it stuck with him during the ninth inning. Following J.T. Realmuto’s flyout on a first-pitch slider in the bottom of the ninth, Estévez looked to be in some discomfort, prompting a visit from head athletic trainer Kyle Turner and Quatraro.
Estévez said he could have kept pitching, but he respected Quatraro for getting him out of the game in that situation, with the Royals leading by seven with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
“I have pitched with worse,” Estévez said.
After a lengthy discussion in which Estévez pointed to his mid to lower back, he exited with Turner while the Royals turned the game over to Luinder Avila, who recorded the final out.
Estévez has posted a 2.43 ERA in his first year with the Royals and leads MLB with 39 saves, a career high for him as he looks to become just the second Royal to lead the Majors in saves following Dan Quisenberry’s 45 saves in 1983.
The Royals have been hurt by injuries this season, so they certainly did not need to deal with another -- especially with their veteran closer. But it sounds like Estévez avoided the worst. If he’s needed on Tuesday, when the Royals open their final homestand of the season with the series-opener against the Mariners, he said he’ll be good to go.
“[Quatraro] was being cautious with it,” Estévez said. “We get on a tear, I’m going to be in a lot of games. So I respect that. But we’re good.