MILWAUKEE – Without making a trade, the Cincinnati Reds have secured the roster additions this week of a 32-save closer and a 100-mph starting pitcher who pitched in the All-Star Game as recently as 2024.
For their next trick, they expect to turn it into a second-half run into relevance, if not a playoff race.
Abra-freaking-cadabra, Brewers, Cubs, Cardinals, et al.
“I wanted to come back (quickly) because I feel we have a team that can win the division,” said Emilio Pagán, who has missed the last two months with a hamstring injury but lobbied to return before a two-game rehab assignment in the face of other injuries to the bullpen.
“To have that many guys go down around the same time, it makes it tough on us,” Pagán said. “But credit to the guys who have been active and playing. It hasn’t been easy for us. But we’re by no means out of it.”
Pagán was to be activated for the second game of the Brewers series Tuesday, June 30 and slot into his ninth-inning role.
Hunter Greene, who pitched into the seventh inning of his last rehab start Sunday, will rejoin the rotation against the Orioles at home, either Friday or Saturday, manager Terry Francona said.
Francona said he wanted to talk to the other pitchers in the rotation before making a decision on the best day for Greene to make his season debut after recovering from surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow in March.
Greene said he expected to make a “real strong impact” on the second half for a team that struggled to stay within four games of .500 as it entered the Brewers series.
If he’s right, he’ll also be the Reds starter with the freshest arm down the stretch.
“That’s definitely how I feel,” he said. “I’m taking that responsibility on. Obviously, our guys have been going since the beginning of the season.
“I am the most fresh out of anybody here. I recognize that, I embrace that, and now I’ve got to go obviously do what I can do. That’s where my mindset it. I’m trying to go as deep as possible in each game.”
Greene figures to have enough time on the schedule for 16 starts the rest of the season.
“He’s shown when he’s out there healthy he can be one of the best pitchers in baseball,” Francona said. “At this point he hasn’t been able to do it. That’s not a slam against him. Just things have come up.
“But having him back will be really good.”
He joins a rotation that already has presumptive 2026 All-Star Chase Burns and 2025 All-Star Andrew Abbott pitching well, for a team that won three of its last four series heading into Milwaukee this week.
“There’s no reason we can’t go on a run, with the talent in here,” said Pagán, whose last rehab inning came in the same game Greene pitched Sunday.
“What I saw, he looks like Hunter Greene. That’s a big thing for us,” Pagán said. “When he’s on the mound, he’s up there with the best pitchers on the planet, so adding a guy like that makes your team better immediately.”
Whether the reinforced Reds have enough time to go on a run that makes a difference is less about the second-half timeline than it is the timeline between now and decisions the front office must make involving the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
“They always have decisions on their hands, but I think even if you ask our front office, Brad (Meador) and Nick (Krall), they believe in this team,” Pagán said. “They put it together for a reason. Fans believe in it. There’s a reason we had expectations in spring training to compete for the division.
“We definitely haven’t made it easy on ourselves. But I believe we have a run in us for sure.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds’ great expectations for IL returns of Hunter Greene, Emilio Pagán
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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By Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
