{"id":657885,"date":"2026-04-02T02:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T02:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/657885\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T02:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T02:02:22","slug":"royals-place-carlos-estevez-on-il-with-left-foot-contusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/657885\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals place Carlos Est\u00e9vez on IL with left foot contusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kansas City Royals closer Carlos Est\u00e9vez was placed on the 15-day injured list<\/a> Wednesday with a left foot contusion.<\/p>\n

Est\u00e9vez, 33, was injured last Saturday<\/a> against the Atlanta Braves. He was hit by a line drive in the ninth inning of the Royals\u2019 6-2 loss.<\/p>\n

The Royals evaluated Est\u00e9vez earlier this week. As Est\u00e9vez recovers, the plan is to continue throwing while he is sidelined.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to continue to throw, probably at 60-75 feet, so he doesn\u2019t have to put too much tension on it or pressure on it, as I should say,\u201d Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. \u201cAnd then, as the symptoms resolve, he\u2019ll get on the mound and then he\u2019ll build up a progression. He\u2019ll have to go out and pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Royals recalled right-handed pitcher Steven Cruz from Triple-A Omaha. Cruz recorded a 3.74 ERA in 47 appearances<\/a> last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really like Cruzy,\u201d Quatraro said. \u201cI mean, that was a really tough decision for us to send him down. We think he is a big part of this team going forward. The growth he\u2019s had since the time we acquired him has been phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz can fit a variety of roles. The Royals will insert him into a reshuffled bullpen against the Minnesota Twins. It\u2019s likely right-hander Lucas Erceg will get the first shot at potential save opportunities.<\/p>\n

Other late-inning candidates include John Schreiber, Alex Lange, and Matt Strahm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really like Lucas in the back end,\u201d Quatraro said. \u201cBut if there is a huge spot in the eighth, you know, he\u2019s going to be in there for that as well. He\u2019s well aware of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Est\u00e9vez has a chance to regain his form. He dealt with low velocity this spring \u2014 averaging 90-92 mph with his fastball<\/a> \u2014 and looked out of sync. The Royals will work alongside Est\u00e9vez to refine his pitching mechanics in hopes of restoring his velocity.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarlos needs to pitch,\u201d Quatraro said. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy that likes to throw. He throws a lot, and the more games we get him in, the better he is going to be. … We\u2019re not going to go where we want to go without him being a big part of that bullpen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Royals could utilize Est\u00e9vez in low-leverage situations when he returns. If he can regain his velocity, the club will have an All-Star reliever back in the fold.<\/p>\n

Last season, Est\u00e9vez led the majors with 42 saves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what I can do,\u201d Est\u00e9vez said after his blown save in Atlanta. \u201cI know my stuff. I know it\u2019s a tough game, but at the same time, I\u2019ve done it before. I know how to get back to that. And like I said, I\u2019ve got to pound the strike zone and that\u2019s gonna make it a lot harder for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, Cruz will help fill the void. He worked on his slider this offseason and is excited to help the Royals achieve their goal of returning to the postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is pulling the same way,\u201d Cruz said via a translator. \u201c(We want to) win and make it back to the playoffs and the World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Kansas City Star<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Jaylon Thompson<\/a><\/p>\n

The Kansas City Star<\/p>\n

Jaylon Thompson covers the Royals for The Kansas City Star. He previously covered the 2021 World Series and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Jaylon is a proud alumnus of the University of Georgia.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kansas City Royals closer Carlos Est\u00e9vez was placed on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with a left foot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":657886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2387],"tags":[5,84019,1092,2540,936,2123,55,2596,2595,4,252,6923],"class_list":{"0":"post-657885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-royals","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bullpen-depth","10":"tag-carlos-estevez","11":"tag-injured-list","12":"tag-kansas","13":"tag-kansas-city","14":"tag-kansas-city-royals","15":"tag-kansascity","16":"tag-kansascityroyals","17":"tag-mlb","18":"tag-royals","19":"tag-steven-cruz"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116332656281432404","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}