Emilio Pagán: 'I know I have good stuff. I will pitch better. I will be better.'
CHICAGO — Following Emilio Pagán’s third blown save of the season, while he ended the game with a 6.43 ERA and a much lower strikeout rate than he had last year, Terry Francona expressed confidence in the Reds’ veteran closer.
“I’m not sure I care about (results) a month ago,” Francona said when asked about Pagán’s season as a whole. “His velocity has come back. He just made a mistake. Sometimes, it’s more than just what you’re doing on the mound. If the first play gets made, we’re probably shaking hands. I’m not blaming Dane. I’m just saying that’s a part of the game.”
The Reds entered the bottom of the ninth inning with a 4-3 lead. In a two-strike count against Pete Crow-Armstrong, Pagán left a splitter right over the heart of the plate. He wanted that pitch back.
Crow-Armstrong hit a towering fly ball, but one that stayed in the yard. Reds center fielder Dane Myers, playing in Wrigley Field for the first time in his career, got tangled up in the ivy as he tried to make a catch at the wall.
“He’s fighting the wall and the basket,” Francona said ”He took a jab step. You could see where he just kind of lost it off the side of his glove.”
Myers dropped the ball, and Crow-Armstrong tripled.
“I’ve got to make a better pitch in that spot,” Pagán said. “I’ve got him in a chase count. If I could do it again, I’d probably throw a heater. I threw a really good splitter the pitch before. It’s hard to execute two really good ones in a row.”
Pagán recovered after that. While Crow-Armstrong scored on a weakly hit sac fly to left, Pagán blew a fastball by Dansby Swanson for a strikeout.
The story of the early part of Pagán’s season was that his fastball velocity wasn’t there. In early April, the reach, intensity and power of that pitch wasn’t at the level it was at in 2025.
Pagán had that velocity on Monday, reaching 95.5 mph. This time, he just left a fastball right down the middle of the plate in a full count against pinch-hitter Michael Conforto. A home run from Conforto gave the Cubs the 5-4 victory in the series opener at Wrigley Field.
“I know I have good stuff,” Pagán said. “I will pitch better. I will be better.”
He’s confident in the Reds, who are on a four-game losing streak, and confident that he’ll be a better closer than he has been so far this year.
“Nothing has changed as far as our mindset as a team,” Pagán said. “We know we’re really good. We played a lot of close ballgames. Quite honestly, I haven’t held up my end of the bargain. As painful as today is, I feel like I’m getting really close to being who I can be. I made two mistakes today, and they both got hit.”
The night nearly belonged to two players who were very recently called up from Triple-A.
Chase Petty entered the game with a 19.50 ERA in three big league appearances. He had a very rocky go of it in the big leagues in 2025, and he was the youngest starting pitcher in MLB when he made his big league debut nearly exactly a year ago.
“I was really happy for him (tonight), especially with how his experience up here last year was,” Pagán said. “Everyone told him to go have fun. Be who you can be.”
Petty looked much, much better on Monday. Having a success with a revamped changeup, impressive velocity and a competitive approach, Petty allowed three runs in 5 ⅔ innings. The fact that Francona brought Petty back out for a sixth inning was a vote of confidence.
“I tried to stay poised,” Petty said. “Stay within myself and do what this team needed me to do.”
One sequence came back to bite him. In the fourth inning, Petty walked two batters on pitches that he simply didn’t execute or command. Those runners scored on a three-run homer by Seiya Suzuki, which was the only damage that the Cubs did against him on Monday night.
“He was terrific,” Francona said. “In the grand scheme of things, it was really good. For us trying to win tonight, you can’t walk the two hitters.”
Making a spot start to bridge the Reds to Nick Lodolo’s return from the IL, Petty still kept the Reds in the game and did enough for the team to win.
Then in the eighth inning, another recent callup provided a huge spark.
Blake Dunn showed off his elite, top-end speed by scoring from second on a go-ahead single by Spencer Steer. Called up to be a bench/platoon piece, Dunn showcased the way he can swing a game as he used every bit of his athleticism to beat the throw home.
The Reds nearly beat the Cubs in a game where Petty, Dunn, another recent call-up (JJ Bleday) and the team’s biggest-slumping hitter (Ke’Bryan Hayes) were the players who provided the biggest impact.
Instead, it ended with a walk-off homer and a fastball right down the middle from Pagán.
Whatever spin Francona and Pagan put on this blown save, the fact remains that LHed power hitters have been taking battimg practice against Pagan 0⁰⁰0⁰ this year and he's had trouble with them his whole career. He's always given up a lot of home runs, including last year, the best season of his career. He does not have the stuff of a legitimate closer.
I dislike the way managers who don't have a legitimate dominating reliever feel compelled to designate a closer instead of using the pitcher who has the best chance on that night to get three outs without damage. I know Francona has also closed with other pitchers but I'd like to see him do that more often.
When a couple of power hitting lefties are due up, don't go with Pagan.
Note: I don't know who was available to pitch the 9th inning last night. That's a factor the fans are not aware of.
Accountability is all we can ask for. I really respected him more after that interview because him saying that he made mistakes and would do better and that the team deserved better made me feel really good about him. I hate when they don't own up to mistakes. I forgot how much I liked him and was starting to feel dread when he was called in but his post game interview reminded me why I like him & made me want to root for him. I love our team!