Estévez had a 4.59 ERA in his career with the Rockies, but he’s got a 1.74 mark this year as the Angels closer. He has converted all 19 of his save opportunities.
Carlos Estévez said he’s excited to return to Denver this weekend to see so many old friends, and to reconnect with people in an organization that gave him the chance to get his career started.
Estévez said assistant pitching coach Bill Hezel, who specializes in analyzing pitch metrics, told him: “That’s why you’ve been getting more swings and misses and more guys taking the fastball down the middle. They think it’s gonna be down and it rises and gets there.” Hitters whiffed on 22.5% of their swings at Estévez’s fastball last year, and this year it’s up to 32.2%.
All of that has helped Estévez climb to the top of the Angels’ bullpen ladder. In spring training they said only that he was one of the candidates to be the closer, but now the job is firmly his. Estévez, 30, is also making an impact on the rest of the bullpen, which now includes rookies Sam Bachman, José Soriano and Kolton Ingram.
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