Emilio Pagán’s season could have gone sideways in a hurry. It started with an ERA north of six, and on May 5 at Wrigley Field, his year seemed to be teetering when he dropped to the ground in pain on the first pitch of his outing.
Since the All-Star break, though, the Reds closer has looked nothing like that early version of himself. Pagán has run off 15 straight converted save chances, and since coming off the injured list in early July, he’s tied for the major league lead in saves while posting a 2.53 ERA with 25 strikeouts. For a pitcher in his third season with Cincinnati, it’s one of the sharpest stretches he’s put together.
“I’m generally better the more that I throw,” Pagán told Charlie Goldsmith. “My command gets better.
The shape of my pitches gets better. I definitely feel locked in right now.”
When Cincinnati has had a save situation lately, Pagán has been the man. Outside of a few appearances skipped because of hand fatigue, he’s handled the late innings for the Reds and picked up his 20th save of the season Tuesday against the San Diego Padres, his former club.
It’s the third time in his career he’s reached 20 saves in a season, and the second year in a row he’s done it. Last season, he set a career high with 32.
“He’s filling up the zone,” Reds reliever Pierce Johnson said. “His heater is up to what it was last year, or better.
His splitter and his cutter are great pitches. The way he attacks the zone in big situations, pounds the zone, he forces them to swing the bat.”
Pagán re-signed with Cincinnati this past offseason on a two-year, $20 million deal. Early on, it was fair to wonder whether the Reds had misallocated that money when offense was the bigger need. Right now, he’s making that decision look a lot better.
Tuesday’s win also included a key moment from Brito, who was recalled before the game with Eugenio Suarez away in Miami to earn his United States citizenship. In the bottom of the eighth, Brito turned in a long, clutch at-bat, seeing eight pitches before delivering a sacrifice that pushed the Reds ahead by two. That extra run mattered when Fernando Tatis homered in the top of the ninth to cut into the lead.
"That was a really good at-bat," Manager Terry Francona said postgame. "He kind of came as advertised. PK (Louisville manager Pat Kelly) talked about how he just played the game right, and he kind of did that tonight.”
Brito carried that momentum into Wednesday, when he made another impact in Cincinnati’s win by launching the first home run of his major league career off Casey Mize. Power hasn’t been a regular part of his minor league track record, though he did hit 21 home runs in Triple-A in 2024. Signed by the Colorado Rockies as an international free agent in 2018, Brito was later traded to Cleveland in 2022 in the Nolan Jones deal before the Reds picked him up from the Guardians at the deadline for cash considerations.
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The fit is easy to understand for a Reds club that can use another rangy outfielder and a little more pop in the running game. The only thing standing between Jorge and an actual debut with the big-league club is the paperwork of roster management, since Cincinnati would need to clear space on both the 40-man and 26-man rosters before the move can become official. [Read more 🡒]
Reds May Already Have A New Infielder Fans Need To Watch
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Lebrons offensive production has been encouraging enough to put him on the radar as one of the systems better young infield options, even if the evaluation is not perfectly clean yet. The swing still draws some questions, and the strikeout rate is part of the conversation, but the raw appeal is obvious enough that the Reds are watching closely. For a club trying to build depth around its young core, a developing shortstop with this kind of upside is exactly the sort of player that can become a bigger part of the picture faster than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Suddenly Have A September Audition Worth Watching Closely
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Britos week stood out even more when he launched his first major league home run and added a stolen base in the same series, the kind of all-around flash that can make a late-season look matter more than the calendar suggests. For a club thinking ahead as much as it is trying to finish strong, these are the auditions worth monitoring, especially with Brito potentially in the conversation for the offseason roster and Williamson trying to show he can still be part of the pitching picture. [Read more 🡒]