Ron Washington Emphatically Backs Carlos Estévez As Closer

Carlos Estévez has had a troubled 2024 season as the closer for the Los Angeles Angels. He has given up earned runs in six of his last 11 outings, has three blown saves and is 0-3 on the year. On Tuesday against the Houston Astros, Estévez was brought in for a non-save situation to hold a 5-5 tie in the 10th inning. He gave up the game-winning run (unearned) but still led to questions for manager Ron Washington.

With all of the issues that Estévez has had — a 5.06 ERA and 83 ERA+ — it’s fair to wonder if the Angels will at some point look elsewhere to try and fill the closer role. The decision ultimately lies with Washington, who has done a great job balancing honest evaluations of players while still giving them a chance to turn things around.

And that is exactly how he plans to approach Estévez, as he shut down any possibility of moving forward with a different closer, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:

“We haven’t given up on him,” Washington said of Estévez. “When the game is on the line and we’ve got a chance to win the game, we’re going to give the ball to Estévez. We’ve just got to ride it out and see where it goes. But as far as us making changes, we’re not making changes.”

Washington didn’t even give Estévez any blame for the loss, saying that it was a game where both teams played well and there were no self-inflicted wounds.

“We put ourselves in position to win, but they got it,” Washington said. “They beat us tonight. It wasn’t like we kicked the ball all over the place and made mistakes and stuff like that. It was a solid ballgame. Somebody had to win, and in the end they got us.”

The Angels have been playing better baseball as of late, but remain a well-below .500 team that is going to lose winnable games on occasion. And while Estévez got the loss, he is not solely responsible for Tuesday’s defeat. However, it’s his struggles outside of Tuesday that have led to questions about his status as closer.

But for the time being, the Angels are sticking by him, a vote of confidence that hopefully can turn his season around.

Angels youth makes history

The run of homers from Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel, Jo Adell and Logan O’Hoppe was not only a huge sigh of relief for fans who want the team’s young players to take the next step, it was also historic in its own right.

It was the first time in Angels franchise history that four players 25 or younger homered in the same game. It was the first time in AL/NL history that a team received four homers from a 25, 24, 23 and 22 year old in the same game.