Pagán hopes to avoid IL, tests out hamstring with aggressive pregame

CINCINNATI -- The Reds and Emilio Pagán were feeling hopeful Wednesday that the closer might avoid the injured list after he felt tightness in his left hamstring at the end of Tuesday's win over the Giants.

Pagán, 34, underwent treatment Wednesday morning and played catch on the outfield grass in the afternoon, with manager Terry Francona, pitching coach Derek Johnson and general manager Brad Meador among those watching.

“Playing catch just now, I felt pretty good," Pagán said. "It’s going to be tender because it’s tight, but I felt like my delivery didn’t change playing catch. I was able to step on it pretty good, just kind of test it out. I probably threw more aggressively, with more intent than I do normally in catch play. But obviously that’s by design to see kind of where I’m at.”

“That was very encouraging," Francona said. “He got after it pretty aggressively, did some movements, running and stuff. I think the next step is we want to see when he cools down, how he feels when he goes back to start moving again.”

As he locked down his fifth save of the season in the ninth inning of a 2-1 win over the Giants on Tuesday, Pagán threw his final pitch of the game to pinch-hitter Daniel Susac and was wincing and limping around the mound. Susac flied out to the left field warning track to end the game.

Pagán first felt something while facing previous batter Heliot Ramos, who struck out.

“I felt my hamstring get a little tight," he said. "Stretched it out a little bit. Obviously the competitor in me wanted to keep going. I threw the first pitch to Susac, it felt great. So I thought it was nothing to worry about. On the last pitch, it grabbed on me a little bit on my left leg. I didn’t feel a pop or anything. It was definitely uncomfortable.”

When examined after the game and in the morning, Pagán noted there was no visible bruising.

“The worry was he would show up this morning and be really sore. So that part is good," Francona said.

“I don’t have any pain but it is very tight. I played catch fine. So it’s looking like we kind of dodged a bullet. Hopefully things continue to trend positively," Pagán said.

Pagán, who completed 32 of 38 save opportunities last year and has saves in five of six chances this season, signed a two-year, $20 million contract as an offseason free agent to return to Cincinnati. He is 1-0 with a 4.82 ERA in nine games overall in 2026.

When Pagán could return to game action remains unclear as the club discussed what's next.

“I want to pitch. I always want to pitch," he said. "But I also understood that we need to be smart. It is early. You don’t want to turn a couple-day thing into a couple weeks, a couple of months by being dumb and stuff.”

With Pagán's near-future availability undetermined, Francona has multiple options for a save situation in eighth-inning setup man Tony Santillan, seventh-inning reliever Graham Ashcraft, lefty Brock Burke and others in the bullpen.

“It depends how we get there. So we’ll see," Francona said. "It could depend on where we are in the order, how much guys have pitched. There’s a lot of factors.”