Pagan, who notched his first hold at the minor-league level in 2018 in Triple-A Nashville's win over Memphis on Sunday, has racked up six strikeouts while allowing only one hit over 3.2 scoreless innings across two appearances with the Sounds.
Pagan had similarly impressed against the same level of competition while with Triple-A Tacoma in the Mariners organization last season (2.56 ERA, 0.87 WHIP), and he'd generated a 56:8 K:BB over 50.2 big-league innings after a subsequent callup to Seattle. However, he hit the skids fairly quickly with the Athletics this season, earning a demotion after allowing a 5.93 ERA and 1.76 WHIP across 12 appearances. His early Nashville returns are certainly encouraging, and several more efforts of similar caliber could certainly earn him a return to Oakland.