Emilio Pagán makes bold claim about Reds' rising bullpen arm who might take his job

Emilio Pagán didn’t mean to light a fuse, but when the Reds’ closer says out loud that Connor Phillips basically saved the Cincinnati Reds' season last year, that’s a sign pointing straight at the most interesting tension in this bullpen.

“What Connor Phillips did for us down the stretch last year was incredible,” Pagán said. “You could argue we don’t make the playoffs without him down the stretch.” 

Compliments like that don’t land as harmless when the player you’re praising is also the type of arm who can absolutely take your ninth inning job if he’s even close to consistent.

Reds’ closer Emilio Pagán might have accidentally opened the door for Connor Phillips

Phillips is 24 years old, has real velocity, a breaking ball that plays, and Terry Francona basically admitted the bullpen felt different when the right-hander was rolling. He was a legitimate weapon down the stretch. In September, Phillips posted a 1.35 ERA, held hitters to a .049 batting average, and struck out 19 (tied for fourth-most in MLB among relievers that month). 

The sneaky part is what those numbers do to everyone else in the room. When a young arm proves he can record outs with the season on the line, the bullpen hierarchy stops being a tidy flowchart and turns into a meritocracy — whoever’s getting it done gets the ball.

Phillips went from a nightmare moment in 2023 (12 straight balls, yanked early) to a rough 2024 in Triple-A, to scary thoracic outlet syndrome stuff, to literally not being able to feel his arm at times — and then somehow landing on the other side of it as a leverage option for a playoff push. That’s a classic Cincinnati experience in a nutshell: nothing linear, nothing clean, but if you hang around long enough, something wild might click.

The Reds don’t need to manufacture bullpen heroes. They apparently grow them in a lab of chaos, and then dare you to pretend the path doesn’t matter. That kind of comeback hardens a player.

So when Pagán says you could argue the Reds don’t make the playoffs without Phillips, he’s not just praising a teammate. He’s also describing the exact type of guy who can end up finishing games if the door ever cracks open. If Phillips carries September into a full season, this stops being a feel-good quote and becomes a job interview for the ninth inning.