Emilio Pagán’s bold take on Reds bullpen will have fans fired up

As stitched together as the Cincinnati Reds’ bullpen has been this season, at least Emilio Pagán has confidence in the relievers. As the team’s newly minted closer, Pagán has every reason to boast. He tallied three straight saves during this past weekend’s sweep of the Cleveland Guardians. But are the Reds relievers — as Pagán suggested last week — really the best in the league?

The bullpen as a whole has given up just four runs over 24 innings as the Reds had won five of their last six games entering play on May 21. More impressively, the relief corps issued just four walks during that span. Eight different pitchers have collaborated for this recent run of success. As evidenced by the team’s climb back into contention, the bullpen’s success will be directly tied to the Reds’ fate this season.

The Reds’ bullpen’s success has been the driver of the team’s run of good luck

Pagán has been at the heart of it all. So far, the right-hander has notched 12 saves, his most since 2019. His cutter has been nearly un-hittable, resulting in a .071 opponents’ batting average. His splitter has also been effective against lefties and has yielded a .234 expected slugging percentage. Keeping those hard-hit balls to a minimum will be a priority for Pagán, whose losses and blown saves have mostly been the result of homers.

Another veteran, Tony Santillan, has been a sterling setup man for Pagán. He has stranded 100% of his inherited baserunners, and he has adapted his pitching style. Santillan had an outrageous 13.8 K/9 last season, which has now dropped to a respectable 6.75. Instead of dominance, he has prioritized control, walking just 6.6% of batters compared to 7.4% in 2024.

Any other year, a slumping Alexis Diaz and a fleet of untested former starters may have doomed the Reds. However, the new kids have stepped up. Graham Ashcraft has been a force, and Luis Mey seems to be settling in. Lyon Richardson, another starting prospect turned reliever, will look to be the next player to shine for Cincinnati.

The bullpen has given the Reds’ bats time to wake up as the summer rolls around. If the team can keep the piling up the wins, Pagán’s predictions of success may very well come true.

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