The day after Cincinnati Redscloser Emilio Pagán was held out of a save situation because of a sore hand, the veteran right-hander got the medical ‘all-clear’ to pitch through the discomfort.
An MRI Friday (Aug. 14) revealed no ligament or tendon damage in the sore area between his index and middle fingers, said Pagán, who lobbied to pitch in the series finale against the White Sox
the day before the scan.“Given what happened earlier (this season) when I had some uncomfortable feeling in my hamstring and tried to play through it and it got worse, I didn’t
really have a leg to stand on and say I don’t want to get this image,” Pagán said. “I want to just keep going. I tried that. They’re like, ‘we’re gonna try to do it the smart way this time and not push this any more than we need to.”
Manager Terry Francona: “It was the right thing to do.”
Pagán said he still feels discomfort when he throws his split-finger fastball but not on any other pitches but seems confident that’s temporary and nothing more than a byproduct of his relatively recent return to high-adrenaline game action after a long layoff.
“Everything’s clean,” he said. “So I should be ready to go tonight.
“It’s going to be uncomfortable (with the splitter),” he added. “Given the scan was clean, it gives me a little more ‘free of mind’ when I”m throwing it. Obviously, injuries are going to happen; I can’t completely rule that out. But in my hand, everything is fine. So it’s going to be uncomfortable for a little bit, but it should go away.”
Pagán, who struggled out of the gate then pitched with a hamstring injury, has eight saves and a 1.46 ERA since returning from the injured list July 1.
In his absence Thursday against the White Sox, 31-year-old rookie Julian Garcia, who debuted in June, pitched the ninth for the Reds with a two-run lead. The Reds won 9-8.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds closer Emilio Pagán 'ready to go' after 'clean' MRI on sore hand
