When the Philadelphia Phillies made the deal for closer Carlos Estévez official, it was a trade that was universally praised by a fan base who have seen plenty of ninth innings go in the wrong direction over the last couple of seasons. While this year’s closer-by-committee arrangement showed some success early on in the season, José Alvarado’s recent failures made the acquisition of a closer an absolute necessity.
Acquiring Estévez ends two seasons of band-aid approaches to addressing the closer role and, with it, an over-reliance on analytics that has made sure no one knows exactly who is coming into the game and at what time. It was a frustrating exercise that was only made more maddening by the results, and the results for Alvarado in July come with a discouraging record of 1-2 with an 8.64 ERA, one blown save in two chances, in addition to allowing eight earned runs in 8 1/3 innings.
The Phillies parted with two very solid pitching prospects, No. 5 prospect George Klassen and No. 7 prospect Sam Aldegheri, by Baseball America’s ranking, to acquire a rental pitcher like Estévez. While Hoffman has done enough to remain in the conversation for save opportunities, it would be a real waste if the Phillies mess with Estévez and don’t allow him to come in and do what he was brought here to do: save close baseball games.
Is that also the way manager Rob Thomson sees it?
Phillies’ plan for Carlos Estévez should be obvious
Carlos Estévez has cemented himself as one of the elite MLB closers during his two seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. With a record of 6-8, 51 saves and a 3.36 ERA in addition to only five walks and 110 strikeouts in 96 1/3 innings, Estévez is clearly a tough assignment to face with the game on the line in the ninth inning.
So how does Thomson see Estévez fitting into the Phillies’ experimental bullpen plans? His comments to the media seemed to suggest a direction.
“He’s going to get the bulk of ninth innings,” said Thomson when speaking to the media after the trade was announced. While not exactly naming Estévez the de facto closer, it doesn’t seem like Thomson will tinker too much with the latest star acquisition.
“It just gives us a lot of depth down there,” Thomson said. “One more solid, high-powered arm. It’s really nice to have.”
The Phillies have been scuffling of late, but now with their roster finalized and any nerves regarding the trade deadline firmly behind them, the new-look Phillies will try to get back on track. Will it be Hoffman in the eighth and Estévez in the ninth going forward? Let’s hope that’s what Rob Thomson has planned.
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