Emilio Pagan’s season has taken a sharp turn in the right direction, even if the Reds’ year around him has gone nowhere.
The Cincinnati closer has piled up 24 saves this season, and the numbers since his return from the injured list on June 30 tell the real story. After going down with a hamstring injury on the first pitch of his outing at Wrigley Field in early May, Pagan was sitting on a rough start: six saves in eight chances and a 6.43 ERA. Since July 5, though, he has given up only six earned runs and collected 18 saves, the most in Major League Baseball over that span.
That surge has come in a season that has otherwise gone off the rails for the Reds. They’re in last place in the division, out of the postseason picture, and have now locked in their 19th losing season in 26 years.
“It’s a good feeling knowing I’m doing my job," Pagan told reporters postgame Friday, "and coming through for my team, but being honest, being in the playoffs is more important than individual statistics. It’s unfortunate the season didn’t go the way we wanted it to.”
For a while, Cincinnati looked like it might be headed somewhere better. The Reds finished April at 20-11 and sat in first place in the National League Central.
After making the playoffs in 2025, they appeared to be on track to at least hang around the division race. Instead, injuries, a bullpen collapse, an offense that ranks at the bottom of the league in everything other than home runs, and a starting rotation that has mostly struggled outside of Chase Burns dragged the season down.
From May through the All-Star break, they were one of the worst teams in baseball.
Pagan’s own arc mirrors the team’s swing in a strange way. He was excellent last season, setting a career high in saves, and he opened 2025 as a key piece in a bullpen that began the year leaning toward a “closer by committee.” After Ian Gibaut’s Opening Day blown save, Pagan seized the job and held onto it.
The Reds also added another arm to the mix on Friday when they claimed Cabrera on waivers. Cabrera has only two seasons with 100 or more games under his belt and is coming off a gruesome ankle injury from last season. In Triple-A this year, he hit .288 and has the kind of defensive versatility that lets him move around the diamond.
Friday also brought a look at some of the younger players the Reds are trying to sort through for next season. Francona adjusted the lineup to get Carlos Jorge leading off and Hector Rodriguez batting seventh. Jorge, who had a strong minor league season between Double-A and Triple-A, has also become an excellent center fielder since moving there in 2024.
Jorge finished 1-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored. Rodriguez went 0-for-4, but he has shown the ability to make solid contact even when the ball doesn’t fall in. With Juan Brito now in the mix and Cabrera added, the Reds have reason to keep giving these four players time together, if only to build playing time and chemistry with nothing left on the line this season.
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Reds Just Made A Lineup Decision Fans Didn't See Coming
The Reds continued to reshape their roster by optioning outfielder TJ Friedl and right-handed pitcher Julian Aguiar to Triple-A Louisville while bringing in some fresh pieces for the stretch ahead. Cincinnati recalled right-hander Zach McCambley from Louisville and added infielder-outfielder Oswaldo Cabrera to the active roster after claiming him off waivers from the New York Yankees, giving the club a little more flexibility on both sides of the ball.
Cabreras arrival is the most intriguing part of the move, especially with manager Terry Francona speaking positively about his versatility and the different ways he could fit into the lineup mix. For a Reds team looking for depth and options, Cabrera gives them a player who can move around the diamond, but the bigger question now is how quickly Cincinnati plans to put that versatility to use. [Read more 🡒]
Chase Burns Is Giving The Reds A Rotation Question Fans Will Love
Chase Burns has already turned his breakout season into one of the most encouraging developments in Cincinnati, and the way he has handled the workload has only added to the intrigue. Reds manager Terry Francona has confirmed the club is monitoring his innings closely, but Burns has kept giving the team quality starts late in the year and now looks poised to reach a major benchmark for a young starter.
By getting to 30 starts, Burns would join Andrew Abbott and Brady Singer in giving the Reds a rotation with real depth at the front end. That kind of production is the sort of problem teams like to have, but it also comes with a built-in question for Cincinnati as it thinks beyond this season: how much more can Burns give before the club has to decide how hard to push him? [Read more 🡒]
Reds Keep Falling Short For One Reason Fans Cant Ignore
Defensive problems have been a nagging part of the Reds identity for a while now, and the numbers have tracked that frustration closely. In the David Bell years, Cincinnati posted very poor Defensive Runs Saved marks in both 2023 and 2024, then made a clear jump in 2025 under Terry Francona, when the club settled into slightly above-average territory.
Even so, the improvement did not last. In 2026, the Reds have the worst DRS in Major League Baseball, a jarring step back for a team that had reason to think the defensive floor was finally rising. For a club trying to turn small gains into real traction, the persistence of those issues has become hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]