Emilio Pagán said the Reds do not think they are very far from the Dodgers as Cincinnati arrived at Dodger Stadium, a statement that landed just as the club opened the series in last place, five games underwater. Pagán, who returned from a groin injury in July and has been one of the best closers in the game since then, said the gap feels smaller than the standings suggest if the roster can finally stay on the field.
“It’s been almost a calendar year, and it feels like we were just here,” Pagán said, looking back to the Reds' last trip to Dodger Stadium in the playoffs. That memory matters because this group has spent the season trying to prove it belongs in the same conversation as the two-time defending champs, even after a year that has moved too fast for them to control.
The Reds have had stretches that looked like they could matter. They recently won consecutive series against the Cubs, Padres and Brewers, and Elly De La Cruz opened the Dodgers series with a first-pitch homer in the first inning. But those flashes sit beside a harder truth: Cincinnati fell from first place to last place in one month flat in May, and the reasons are the same ones that have followed it all season — injuries, inconsistency, too many walks and fielding mistakes.
Terry Francona put the problem in plain terms. “In our game if you’re inconsistent in areas, you’re gonna get exposed,” he said. “And we’ve been that.” That is the friction inside Pagán’s optimism. He said, “It’s easy to say that I don’t think we’re very far,” and added, “With health in mind, if we have all our guys on the field, I like our chances.” He also acknowledged there are “other factors,” and that Cincinnati has “not played well enough consistently enough when we have been healthy.”
The Dodgers series has become a measuring stick because the Reds are searching for proof that the roster can hold together long enough to matter. Brandon Williamson returned from the injured list last week and took over a 1-0 game from Chase Burns in the fourth inning on Monday night, after Burns turned in a workload-limited three-inning start and moved to 15-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 27 starts. The Reds will not have two-time Opening Day starter Hunter Gr., and they have less than three weeks left to evaluate rookies such as Hector Rodriguez and Carlos Jorge.
That leaves the Reds with a simple task and a complicated verdict. They can keep playing hard, as Pagán said they will, and try to build momentum into the offseason. But the real answer to how close they are to the Dodgers will come less from one quote in one series than from whether Cincinnati can finally turn health into a full lineup, and a full lineup into a season that looks less like a missed chance.
