A history of Angel Pagan not going on the DL

Angel Pagan didn't go on the DL yesterday, marking the 8th consecutive game when he was both too injured to play baseball and not on the list of Giants players who are too injured to play baseball. This has been a pattern for him and the Giants during his time in San Francisco, as this same situation has also occurred in each of the previous three years. Let's go over that history, because it was either that or read about Matt Cain, and who wants to do that?

2013

Angel Pagan was having a subpar first couple months of the season in 2013 when he uncorked the most magnificent play of the year, and one that's still as exciting as any play that you'll ever see in any one non-playoff game:

Jesus, that was awesome. The only slight problem with it is that he strained his left hamstring, and was unable to play the next day. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. For 13 days, Pagan sat in limbo on the Giants roster, with the team insisting that he was improving. Grant even wrote about it on Day 5. Angel Pagan's DL status was, at the time, news.

On June 7, the Giants put Angel Pagan on the DL, retroactive to May 28. At the time, it was a big deal that they couldn't backdate it all the way to when he was actually hurt, what with the official word heavily implying he wouldn't be out long:

Manager Bruce Bochy said that Pagan's hamstring remained inflamed though his condition was improving overall. Pagan has spent approximately a week performing baseball-related activities.

Angel Pagan's condition did not improve, he got injured during a rehab game in Stockton (just goes to show: never go to Stockton), he had hamstring surgery a few days later (a surgery that turned out to be pretty wild), was put on the 60-day DL on July 5, and eventually he came back at the end of August.

Time between injury and DL: 13 days
Time actually missed with injury: 96 days

2014

Angel Pagan's final game for almost two months was on June 14, Game Two of that catastrophic Rockies series, when his poor defense might well have cost the team the game. I'll let Bryan explain:

He took a flat route on what looked like a single from Brandon Barnes and slowed down just before getting to the ball. When it bounced it was a high bounce and wound up spinning away from him . . . it's perhaps entirely possible that someone who *does* get paid to pay baseball professionally might've been able to get to that ball in a couple of other ways -- a better route or not slowing up to catch it.

Oh, and then he grounded into a double play to end the game.

From June 17, a brief note in an otherwise unrelated recap:

Angel Pagan's back is bothering him, and he'll probably miss a chunk of time, but without going on the DL.

The Giants waited until June 25 to put him on the DL, though this year they at least were able to backdate it to when he first didn't play. Progress? Progress!

Time between injury and DL: 10 days
Time actually missed with injury: 54 days

2015

Pagan started out hot in 2015, OPSing .804 in April. But his body started whining, and not working right, and even though the Giants did sporadically have three other outfielders who were both healthy and good enough to comprise a major league starting outfield, they resisted putting Pagan on the DL for months. The team suffered for it, too, since from the start of May through his going on the DL in August, Pagan had a .540 OPS and looked awful in the outfield. Even Mike Krukow publicly said it:

During the triplepalooza in Arizona over the weekend, Mike Krukow mentioned Pagan was stopping short of the wall because it takes his knees aren't built for quick stops anymore.

That's someone who needs time off to heal and had needed it for months. Only three weeks later, after only three months of terrible baseball play, he got it! When Pagan came back in September, he was a different, much better, baseball player.

Time between injury and DL: 2 days
Okay, but time between him being a very bad baseball player because of injury and DL: We'll call it about 100 days
Time actually missed with injury: 22 days

2016

Let's summarize very quickly: Angel Pagan strained a hamstring on May 1. He is currently too hurt to run hard. He can pinch hit if necessary, but Bruce Bochy says he'll have to send someone in to run for him.

Tweet timeline:

Pagan had MRI on hamstring. Has grade 1 strain, "to the tee" what trainers expected. Out 4-5 days. No DL for now.

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) May 2, 2016

Panik still a day or two away. Not out of the question Pagan could return this weekend. If he can't, #sfgiants will have to consider DL.

— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) May 4, 2016

Pagan likely unavailable in series against #Rockies. Bochy hopeful he'll get a start toward end of homestand. #SFGiants

— Amy Gutierrez (@AmyGGiants) May 6, 2016

Pagan won't play in this series. If he's not ready by Monday, Tuesday, "we'll have to make a call" on DL. #sfgiants,

— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) May 7, 2016

Angel Pagan is available to pinch hit but needs a runner. Even if he can't start till Thursday in Arizona, Giants would hold off a DL move.

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) May 9, 2016

History never repeats itself, but it rhymes. Also, it repeats itself.

Time between injury and DL: 9 days and counting!
Time actually missed with injury: Who knows?