The Los Angeles Angels favorite player Carlos Estevez has announced and clarified that…
After one week of play, the Los Angeles Angels have experienced more victories than defeats. The squad has had some strong outings from their pitchers and is scoring runs at a fairly good clip. At least the majority of them.
Carlos Estevez was signed by the Angels in the summer to a $13.5 million, two-year contract. Although Phil Nevin hasn’t stated it, many people believed that Estevez was the favorite to end games.
Estevez’s first two outings this spring have been incredibly difficult for him. He still has time to get better, but he’ll need to work hard off the field because he plans to pitch in the WBC for the Dominican Republic. His opportunities to shine Close ties with Phil Nevin are ending before he leaves, assuming he doesn’t go entirely.
Carlos Estevez’s poor spring performance is costing him his position as an Angels closer.
When it comes to assigning duties, spring training doesn’t really matter—or at least it shouldn’t. But something has to give when a pitcher makes this awful of an appearance.
Estevez has only appeared twice, which is obviously a small sample size, but both times have been terrible. Against the Giants, Estevez faced four hitters in his opening appearance. He recorded one out, walked two, and gave up a hit. After a high pitch count caused him to be removed, all three runs were scored.
He faced the Dodgers yesterday on his second outing. He was up against five hitters. The first three were walked; the fifth was walked after striking out the fourth. Estevez has recorded two outs but has given up five runs and walked six hitters.
His control problems don’t really worry me because they have never been this severe in the past. Throughout his career, he has walked 3.5/9, which isn’t particularly low nor extremely high. In any case, Phil Nevin responded to a question about his level of concern by saying that he was getting used to throwing up in the zone, something he didn’t do as frequently in Colorado.
Estevez ought to be fine for the Angels, but given his extended absence from the team and his lackluster spring training, a relegation to a slightly worse position is a possibility.
function. Although Estevez’s appointment as the closer wasn’t officially announced, everyone assumed it would happen.
