Emilio Pagán picked up his fifth victory of the season on Sunday, a career high. But for a few minutes there, he thought he might be able to contribute so much more.
The Twins had used all of their position players by the 10th inning vs. the White Sox, including a couple who were battling conjunctivitis and were having trouble seeing. So when a foul tip by Jake Burger in the 11th inning ricocheted off catcher Ryan Jeffers' knee and hit him in the chin, causing him to bite his tongue, it occurred to manager Rocco Baldelli that he might need to conscript a pitcher into the batting order — and at another position.
"They've asked me about that before — could I do it? I mean, I would love to, absolutely," the righthanded reliever said. "Short bench today. I knew we were short due to the [virus] going around, so when I saw Willi [Castro] and Joey [Gallo] come into the game, I thought, hmm, it could happen."
That's what Baldelli thought, too, and he insisted afterward he's not afraid to put himself in that position.
"How many games have we ever run out of players? Could it happen at some point? Absolutely," the manager said. "It's not likely. Knock on wood, hopefully, it doesn't happen this year. But we're going to use our guys to try to win a ballgame. That's what they're there for."
Jeffers, though, wasn't going to be the reason a pitcher had to play the field. He signaled for the trainer right away because his mouth was bleeding, but he insisted he could stay in.
In the dugout, Baldelli and his coaches mulled options if Jeffers couldn't play. Cole Sands was considered, and Pablo López, too. Kenta Maeda always wants to do more than pitch, but trying that as he is coming back from elbow surgery seemed reckless.
Pagán was the obvious choice, Baldelli said, because he played third base at Belmont Abbey College a little more than a decade ago, but he was going to be needed to pitch if the game went another inning. "You might have to move him to a position and then have Jovani Moran [pitch] and then [have them switch places] if you're forced to," Baldelli said. "We had a few options."
Pagán has actually been thinking about the possibility for a few years and revisits it every spring.
"We took some ground balls at short in spring training and then here maybe a month and a half ago," he said. "I took ground balls at first base and shortstop, turned some double plays, mostly just to stay athletic, not really for training."
So could he do it?
"In all seriousness, I probably feel the most comfortable at third base," Pagán said. "I don't think I would be a superstar over there, but I think I could make the routine plays. It would be very cool, yeah. I don't think it will ever happen, but I would love to."
Familiar face
Though he didn't play third base, Pagán did have a memorable encounter Sunday. The second batter he faced in the 12th inning was White Sox rookie Zach Remillard, who "has probably watched me throw 100 bullpens over the past five years," Pagán said.
That's because they both train in the winter at Showcase Baseball Academy near Charlotte, N.C. Pagán said he texted Remillard when the rookie was called up to the majors and has enjoyed his rapid success.
When they faced each other Sunday, "I thought he'd be really aggressive because he knows my stuff so well," Pagán said. Remillard had hit his first career home run earlier in the game, too.
Instead, Remillard bunted the ball right back to Pagán, an oddly timed play given that there was one out and a runner on second. Pagán threw him out at first, but Remillard will hear about it, he said.
"I was shocked a little bit," he said. "I'm going to give him a hard time — 'c'mon, you're bunting on me?' "
Etc.
• Byron Buxton spent much of the game monitoring the condition of his wife, Lindsey, at a nearby hospital and grew anxious, teammates said, as the game dragged on well past three hours. When the Twins finally drove in the winning run in the 12th inning, Buxton left the ballpark in a hurry. That's because Lindsey is due to deliver the couple's third child, joining sons Brixton and Blaze, sometime Sunday or Monday.
• Tucker Bradley hit a tiebreaking two-run double off Patrick Murphy in the seventh inning as host Omaha handed the Class AAA Saints their third loss in a row, winning 3-1. Twins infielder Jorge Polanco played third base for the first time on his rehab assignment, going 1-for-2 at the plate.
