HOUSTON — Angels manager Ron Washington was very clear in his assessment of Carlos Estévez and his current role with the team.
“He’s our closer,” Washington said before Tuesday’s game against the Houston Astros.
Estévez has been shaky for most of the season, with a 5.17 ERA in his first 15 games. He picked up the save Monday night, but he allowed one run and would have allowed another if not for right fielder Jo Adell stealing a home run.
Estévez has seven saves and three missed saves.
“We just haven’t gotten to the point where we’re considering changing our approach,” Washington said. “He’s our closer, and when the game predicts he needs to be there, we’re going to give it to him.”
When asked why he remains so confident in Estévez, Washington replied: “Because I’m with him every day and I know how much he cares. I know how hard he works. We’ve all hit areas of baseball during a season where things don’t go the way you want them to. And it’s not time to pull the plug. It’s time to show more confidence, and that’s what we’re going to do, continue to show confidence.
If the Angels wanted to make a change, right-hander Hunter Strickland would be the most likely alternative. He has a 2.25 ERA and experience as a closer.
Estévez, 31, is in his second full season as a closer. The Angels gave him his first extended opportunity at the position last season, and he rewarded them by throwing well enough in the first half to be an All-Star. Estévez, however, collapsed in the second half, and he has now gotten off to an inconsistent start in 2024.
Estévez didn’t allow a point in his first five games of the season, but since then he has allowed at least one point in half of his games.
Although he was somewhat shaky on Monday in Houston, he managed two scoreless innings – starting with an automatic runner – on Saturday in Texas. (Again, Adell threw a runner to the plate to help.)
Estévez said he was optimistic about getting better results, mainly because he didn’t play a walk hitter.
“I throw strikes,” he said. “I’m just going to throw more quality strikes.”
Estévez delivered his first walk of the season on Monday, and it was a semi-intentional walk against dangerous slugger Yordan Alvarez. Although he put the tying run on base, he brought up Alex Bregman, who Estévez struck out on a fly ball.
“I’m not going to let (Alvarez) beat me,” Estévez said. “Bregman is a very good hitter, but I have a better chance with him.”
Estévez acknowledges, however, that some things are wrong. He said his fastball “was a little off.” The average speed of his four seamers is now 96.3 mph, which is down slightly from last year’s 97.1 mph.
Opponents hit .256 with a .442 slugging percentage against his fastball and .286 with a .643 slugging percentage against his slider.
The speed and whiff rate on his slider are about the same as last year.
Estévez said another problem was that his workload was very inconsistent. The way the rest of the team performed made save situations sporadic. Estévez has been called for a shutdown situation in just 10 of 48 games. Six of his 15 outings took place with at least four days of rest.
“I’m the type of guy that if I throw more, I throw better,” he said. “Both extremes are bad. »
He said he’s always trying to find strategies to accommodate the amount of work that presents itself.
“I’m in my ninth season and I’m still learning things,” he said. “Anyone who says he knows everything is lying. »
REMARKS
A day after Adell stole a home run, he said Estévez promised to buy him dinner as thanks for his defensive gem. …
Before Monday night, the last time the Angels overcame a deficit of at least five runs to win was July 15, 2023. They came back from a six-run deficit in that game. Coincidentally, it was also against the Astros and the starting pitchers were Reid Detmers and Framber Valdez, the same game as Monday. …
The Angels are 7-2 in games against a left-handed starting pitcher, including Monday’s game.
FOLLOWING
Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 4-4, 2.72 ERA) at Astros (RHP Hunter Brown, 1-4, 7.71 ERA), Wednesday, 11:10 a.m. PT, Bally Sports West, 8:30 a.m.
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