NEW YORK — Looking back at his 2019 season, when Emilio Pagán pitched for the Tampa Bay Rays and got his first chance to close in the big leagues, he sees in retrospect what he should have done differently.
“When I first got a shot at closing, I wanted to be the closer,” Pagán said. “That name, it made the inning bigger than what it needed to be.”
Pagán didn’t stick as a closer in 2019. This year, he’s getting his second shot in that role. His two biggest points of focus have been on controlling his emotions in a more consistent way and executing as many pitches as he can.
After every big ninth inning moment, he asks himself, “Did you throw a good pitch?”
He’s making an effort to be honest with himself. Sometimes, a good hitter connects with a good pitch and it results in a loss. Pagán has also admitted when there were days where he didn’t execute as well as he could have but still escaped at the end of the day.
On Saturday, in a 5-2 win over the Mets, Pagán did a little bit of both. But then in what felt like the most pressure he has faced all season, Pagán pulled through and got outs against Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. They were all dramatic plate appearances from some of the most feared hitters in the game, and the tying run was at the plate the entire way.
When Pagán got the final out, he recorded his 21st save of the season. He set a career high for saves in a season, which was celebrated by his teammates after the win.
At the end of the day, as players were leaving the visitor’s clubhouse, Pagán was sitting at his locker next to pitching coach Derek Johnson for a debrief. There was plenty to discuss following Pagan’s most dense and rich save in a Reds uniform.
All game, the bullpen was walking a tightrope. It started in the sixth when left-handed Taylor Rogers walked the two left-handers he was brought in to face. Scott Barlow replaced him, issued another walk but then responded with the first dramatic escape of the night.
Barlow is having a solid season, but he has to walk fewer guys. And behind Barlow, middle relief is still a big work in progress
Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft were terrific. They’ve both been good all season. Their versatility, consistent availability and toughness have been critical to the team’s success.
Pagán, who’s having a very good season himself, took the mound for the ninth. When he issued a walk and single to the first two batters he faced, Pagán brought the tying run to the plate and made his job a lot more difficult.
Francisco Lindor stepped up to the plate. It was time to make some great pitches.
“I’ve faced Lindor a bunch,” Pagán said. “Historically, I’ve thrown him a lot of fastballs. Yesterday, I threw him six straight splitters and then a cutter. Today, I was trying to mix and match and not try to fall into any type of pattern. They put together some really, really fun at-bats. Fun battles. They’re some of the best hitters in the world. That was a lot of fun.”
Lindor entered the game 0-for-5 against Pagán. One day earlier, in the series opener, Pagán beat Lindor with a cutter. In Game 2 of the series, Pagán mixed and matched until he got to his splitter on the seventh pitch of the at-bat. Lindor grounded out to first base.
Now, there’s two on, two out and Juan Soto stepping up to the plate. The $765 million man was about to work an eight-pitch at-bat.
“I showed him everything I had,” Pagán said. “Fastballs up and away. Fastballs up and in. Splitters down and away. Cutters down and in. The only pitch I didn’t really show him was a backdoor cutter.”
At least until the end.
Soto turned on one of those high heaters, the seventh pitch of the at-bat, and crushed a screaming line drive down the right field line. The ball was so close to the foul pole that it ultimately had to be reviewed. But in the end, Soto’s near game-tying homer was ruled a foul ball.
“I could have sworn I threw that (pitch) over his head,” Pagán said. “He’s one of the best players in the world for a reason. He’s really good at keeping balls like that fair. I got lucky with that one.”
When asked about what the key was for Pagán to ultimately be successful against Soto, Terry Francona said, “The ball went foul. I was helping it go foul. Believe me.”The save could have been blown there had Soto’s line drive carried a few feet to the left. But if that were the case, Pagán still felt like he threw a quality pitch to Soto.
“I’ve said it all year,” Pagán said. “You have to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself ‘Did you throw a good pitch?’ My initial reaction was that was a ball above the zone. That’s my strength. He had spit on a splitter down and away. For him to lay off of 83 moving away from him and then get to 97 with my ride, which is why I’m in the big leagues. I’d be ok looking in the mirror and say I like that pitch.”
Now, Soto has a full count. Pagán is ready to throw the next pitch. Right as he’s about to get into his windup, Tyler Stephenson calls time.
“He was shaking (the pitch call), and I saw time was running down (on the pitch clock),” Stephenson said. “It felt like we were in between pitches. I wanted to make sure we were on the same page. He knew the pitch he wanted to throw. It was pretty cool. Those are good players. It was a hell of an at-bat with Soto. He made the pitch.”
During the mound visit, Stephenson asked, “Do you want to tuck another cutter down and in?”
“My initial answer was yes,” Pagán said. “I turned around and said let’s throw (the cutter) backdoor and I’ll try to throw it on the point of the plate and hopefully he swings at it. If not, I’ll try to get Alonso on a ground ball. After the swing he had on the fastball and laying off the splitter, I really felt like that was my only option.”The only pitch that Pagán hadn’t shown Soto yet was the backdoor cutter. It fooled him. Soto swung and then tried to check his swing. But Soto’s swing had gone too far. He was called out on the strikeout.
One of the best hitters in baseball was out, but the job wasn’t over. Now, Pagán had to get one more out against one of the sport’s best sluggers in Pete Alonso.
Pagán set up a high fastball, and that pitch forced Alonso to fly out to right field to end the game.
“My fastball is my best pitch,” Pagán said. “I did the really, really hard part. I was just trying to stay away from his damage. I stayed with my strength. If he hits it out, he hits it out.”
Francona described the ninth inning like this: “It’s agonizing but it’s fun. Your throats in your ear and your stomach is in your throat. You know you’re going to win but you’re not sure how. It’s a lot of emotions.”
To make the playoffs, you have to win games like that against good teams. The Reds did that on Saturday, improving to a season-high five games over .500.
2025 WXIX