Young Rockies Reliever Shows Poise

DENVER—Reliever Carlos Estevez had hoped to make his big league debut in September. The 23-year-old righthander never expected that memorable moment would come on April 23.

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And after making just five appearances at Triple-A Albuquerque to start the season, Estevez never imagined that soon after reaching the majors, manager Walt Weiss would be using him in pressure situations.

Weiss said that “obviously, the sheer stuff” was intriguing with Estevez. But a 96-99 mph fastball, a plus slider that he only began throwing after the 2014 season and a very good changeup weren’t the determining factors that led Weiss to summon the 6-foot-4 Estevez with little wiggle room.

“His demeanor and his mentality, that’s been a big factor,” Weiss said. “That’s why I moved him so quick in the high-leveraged situations, because he seems very poised and unflappable out there.”

Estevez was part of the Rockies’ bullpen shuffling in late April that notably resulted in he and Gonzalez Germen receiving callups and righthander Miguel Castro going on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation.

Demeanor and poise notwithstanding, Weiss knew he was dealing with a young reliever who began last season at high Class A Modesto. While Estevez recorded 23 saves in 2015, notching 13 of them after a promotion to Double-A, he had barely dipped his toes in the Triple-A waters and had reached the big leagues with just 110 appearances outside the Dominican Summer League.

“Especially with a young pitcher,” Weiss said, “you want to be careful how quickly you move him into those tight situations. But he showed me right away that I don’t think he’s going to be affected by the type of situation you bring him into.”

Through 11 big league appearances, Estevez recorded a 4.91 ERA with 11 strikeouts and eight hits allowed in 11 innings. Debatable calls led to seven walks, but Estevez, who signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2011, stayed away from a big inning.

ROCKY ROADS

• Low Class A Asheville shortstop Brendan Rodgers, the third overall pick last year, hit .346/.410/.600 with seven homers and 12 doubles through 32 games.

• Catcher Tom Murphy (oblique) made his 2016 debut with Albuquerque on May 5 and went 10 for his first 30.