When the Phillies acquired Carlos Estévez from the Los Angeles Angels in July, they all-but made him their closer. There have been individual games where someone other than Estévez has gotten save opportunities, but he's gotten the bulk since putting on red pinstripes.
Estévez's results haven't been bad — as he has a 2.57 ERA in 20 games with the Phillies, having converted on six of eight save attempts. But he hasn't been lights out either, as evidenced by his 3.83 FIP. There's no reason to think Rob Thomson won't continue to turn to Estévez to close games out late, but a year after both Craig Kimbrel and Orion Kerkering hit a wall at the same time in October, Estévez's recent numbers are worth a closer examination.
In September, Estévez has made eight appearances, posting a 3.24 ERA. Over that span, he's allowed at least one hit in five games. Estévez has given up multiple hits three times, including in Wednesday's win over the Chicago Cubs. Even the final out of that game was a ball hit hard into the left-center field gap by Isaac Paredes that Austin Hays had to track down. Two nights before, Estévez was on the mound as the Phillies closed out their first NL East title since 2011, but needed a fly out by Michael Busch just shy of the warning track with runners on first and second base to finish off the game.
The Phillies finally, FINALLY, retake the NL East crown. pic.twitter.com/Po0B5y8oAV
There isn't necessarily a take here, more that Estévez not being a shutdown option in the ninth inning recently bears watching. The best reliever doesn't always need to be used in the save situation. It sometimes makes more sense to use Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm — both of whom were All-Stars this season — in high-leverage situations earlier in the game. Knowing that Estévez has 26 saves this year and is capable of pitching in the ninth allows Thomson to do that. But that doesn't mean there aren't times that it makes more sense to have Hoffman or Strahm pitch in a save situation than Estévez. Heck, there might be situations where José Alvarado, Kerkering or even ... Ranger Suárez could be a fit to pitch in the ninth in the playoffs.
Thomson was the the third base coach for the New York Yankees in 2009 when the won the World Series with the greatest closer in MLB history in Mariano Rivera finishing off the Phillies. The Phillies don't have that type of reliever locked into the ninth inning. Very few teams do in the game today. Estévez will likely get the first crack in the postseason, but the Phillies have enough other options to pivot if he continues to be as hittable as he has recently. The ninth inning may very well be a group effort for the Phillies in the playoffs.
