Former Mariners reliever suffers brutal-looking injury after emerging as Reds linchpin

Nobody wants to see bad things happen to old friends, so Seattle Mariners fans should be warned that what happened to Emilio Pagán at Wrigley Field on Tuesday is hard to watch.

He had the ball for the Cincinnati Reds in a 2-2 game in the bottom of the ninth, and it was clear that something was wrong mere moments after he threw his first pitch to Chicago Cubs leadoff man Nico Hoerner. Pagán began hopping around on his right leg before he hit the ground, clutching his left leg. He had to be carted off the field.

There's no official word on how badly the right-hander, who turns 35 on Thursday, is hurt. But Reds manager Terry Francona didn't sugarcoat it after his club's 3-2 loss, telling the media that Pagán will "certainly" be going on the injured list.

Emilio Pagán's apparent hamstring injury is a blow to a former Mariner who has made good

What's clear just from watching the video is that Pagán hurt his hamstring, and that alone doesn't bode well. Hamstring injuries tend to linger, to a point where the average absence with a hamstring injury in 2025 was 28 days long.

You hate to see it for Pagán. Despite his 6.43 ERA this year, ball knowers will know him to be one of the league's better relievers when he's on his game. He's had three seasons in which he posted a sub-3.00 ERA while making over 60 appearances, including 2023 and 2025.

The South Carolina native beat the odds as soon as he broke in with the Mariners back in 2017. He had been a 10th-round draft pick in 2013. Along with Tyler Rogers and Mike Tauchman, Pagán is one of only three viable big leaguers to come out of that round.

Pagán left the organization in November of 2017 via a trade to the Athletics, which brought back Ryon Healy. He only spent one year with the A's before bouncing to the Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres and Minnesota Twins before settling in Cincinnati for the last three years. Such as it is, the legacy of the Pagán trade for the Mariners has gotten a new twist from Healy's pivot to broadcasting.

For their part, the Reds have every reason to worry about the effect on their bullpen if Pagán is out for a while. It's been knocked around this year, particularly for a 9.16 ERA during the club's five-game skid in May.

As their bullpen isn't in a great spot in its own right, the Mariners can relate. And even if nobody on the roster right now crossed paths with Pagán in Seattle, you have to think they're all wishing him well right now.

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