Pagan, who notched his first win of the season Saturday against the Blue Jays in his initial appearance since returning from Triple-A Nashville, used his fastball a season-high 86.2 percent of the time in that outing, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "I've got to stick with what I do and believe that it will work out for the best more often than not: Throwing the fastball up in the zone, the slider off that, working in the split whenever I get a chance, whenever it's a good situation for it," Pagan said.
Pitching coach Scott Emerson stated the right-hander's velocity was also up slightly to the 95-96 mph range during the appearance, which he emphasized can make a notable difference with a "mistake pitch" such as that one. Pagan had struggled while relying less on his power pitch and more on his slider before being demoted May 2, giving up seven earned runs on 13 hits over his last six appearances. Manager Bob Melvin saw Pagan's effort Saturday as a reflection of what his reliever is capable of when he pitches to his strengths. "It just seemed like he was confident," Melvin said. "Things like that don't show up, but those two innings we got from him kept us where we could have the potential comeback. He has it in him. It probably was good for him to go down and work on his strengths."