With the news Sunday that Alexis Díaz is back in the house, and the Cincinnati Reds plan to return him to the bullpen Tuesday, they might be advised to resist the temptation to slot him immediately back into the closer role, where he has struggled for more than a season and a half.
They have other choices, which they’ve vetted under fire through the first five series of the season. Albeit, with mixed results. But mostly with success.
And the one who has risen to the top, in the ninth, so far is the one they should stick with, at least as a significant part of the closer mix: veteran Emilio Pagán.
Pagán, after all, has been preparing for this all winter, whether he knew it or not, with a dietary regimen that, combined with workouts, led to a 30-pound weight loss, along with strength gain.
He got the idea after talking about it with former teammate Justin Wilson last season.
“He came across this carnivore diet where he basically just ate steak and eggs. Just red meat and eggs. That’s it,” Pagán said. “I decided I’m going to try it. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t I’ll try something else.
“Within the first three weeks I was down 15 pounds.”
And within the first three weeks of the season, his ERA is down to 1.23.
Along the way, the trust of his manager is up, as evidenced by a league-high seven games finished and twice as many saves (four) as he had in the last two years combined.
The former Rays closer hasn’t earned this many saves in a season since nine in 2022 with the Twins (he had 20 for the Rays in ’19).
Pagán has been one of the early success stories in a closer-less bullpen that has hung among the league leaders despite uncertainty of some of the roles and occasional shakiness. They’ve converted five of seven save chances (Pagán is 4-for-4), and the bullpen’s 3.23 ERA ranked among the National League’s top four pens through Sunday.
The Reds haven’t told Díaz what to expect for his role once he’s activated for Tuesday’s series opener against the Seattle Mariners. Pitching coach Derek Johnson suggested during Díaz’s minor-league injury rehab assignment (hamstring) that he might be eased back into big-league duty in a lesser role at least initially.
Which is probably best, at least for now, with a certain carnivore on the prowl in the late innings these days.
“I feel strong. I feel good,” he said of the diet’s impact, which also supposedly comes with the added benefit of helping reduce general inflammation in part because of the lack of sugar. “I tried it, man, and it worked.”
A carnivore diet that turns a pitcher into a predator?
“We’ll see,” he said. “Hopefully. That’d be cool.
The Big Number: 7
That’s the number of 1-0 games played in the majors this season through the weekend. The Reds were involved in four of them — losing a record-tying three in a row (vs. Texas twice and Milwaukee) and then beating San Francisco Tuesday.
The only team involved in more than one 1-0 game so far this year that hasn’t played the Reds is the woeful Chicago White Sox, who lost one each to the Guardians and Angels.
Overall, the Reds have been involved in six shutouts (3-4) through Sunday, also leading the majors (The Padres are 5-0 in team shutouts).
He said it
“We were going to have a human sacrifice but nobody volunteered.”
*Reds manager Terry Francona on solving the team’s scoring woes after those three straight 1-0 games and four straight without an earned run.
Unsolicited advice for Nick Krall, Bob Castellini
Hey, Reds top brass, here’s one midseason move that won’t require giving up any player capital in trade and will help provide answers for that malleable back end of the bullpen (with all due respect to Díaz):
Sign veteran closer David Robertson, the best free agent reliever on the market who didn’t sign, reportedly getting no takers on an asking price of $10 million for 2025.
Robertson, who turned 40 this month, had a 3.00 ERA in 68 games for Texas last season with the highest strikeout rate of his career.
Over his past three seasons, his ERA is even better: 2.88 over 188 appearances, with 40 saves and 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
He’s an ice-water cool veteran who would help on the mound and in the clubhouse, would add to the Reds’ collection of World Series veterans and has pitched in some of the toughest environments in his career, including Philadelphia, Chicago’s north side and nine seasons in the Bronx.
He’s also not going to cost $10 million any more.
And if you guys don’t like that one, I’ll keep the ideas coming. Stay tuned next week.
Terry Francona: Just another pretty face?
In case you missed it, the Reds’ 65-year-old manager landed a No. 12 preseason ranking on a Canadian betting site’s most handsome managers in the majors list.
“I don’t know who the hell the judges were,” said Francona, who finished 11 spots behind Washington’s Dave Martinez.
“I think it was like Helen Keller and Ray Charles.”
Did you know?
In the Reds’ 14 games before the starting rotation returned to full strength with the activation of Andrew Abbott from the injured list Saturday, Reds starters led all MLB rotations with 2.2 collective WAR (per fangraphs.com).
By the time Abbott went five innings (one run) Saturday and Greene went seven scoreless Sunday, the rotation’s league-leading ERA was down to 2.68. And their 1.82 walks per nine innings were fewest in the majors, their 94 innings pitched second only to the Cubs, who played two more games.
#Emilio #Pagán #answer #Cincinnati #Reds #9th #Alexis #Díaz
