Reds: 4 prospects who could make an impact in September

2. Tony Santillan, Reds pitcher

This feels like a safe bet, right? Tony Santillan was promoted to the majors earlier this season and saw several starts before being moved to the Cincinnati Reds bullpen. Given the fact that the organization is keeping Santillan in that same role despite being back at Triple-A Louisville would lead one to believe that the team is thinking of using Santillan out of the bullpen for the stretch run.

According to MLB Pipeline, Santillan was one of Cincinnati’s Top 10 prospects heading into the 2021 season. The right-hander proved himself at Triple-A during the early part of the season, and when injuries to Jeff Hoffman, Sonny Gray, Wade Miley, and Michael Lorenzen forced the ball club to dig deep this season, Cincinnati decided it was time to see what Santillan was made of.

The hulking right-handed hurler proved to be a grinder. Santillan would battle opposing batters deep into counts, consistency pound the strike zone, and more times than not found his way out of jams. However, once the Reds returned to full health, it was deemed that Santillan be shifted from starter to reliever.

This change in philosophy allowed Tony Santillan to ramp up the velocity on his heater. In six relief appearances before being sent back to Triple-A Louisville, Santillan worked 6.2 innings, struck out 10 batters and issued just one free pass. Since returning to Triple-A at the beginning of August, it’s been more of the same from Santillan. He’s only allowed one hit in six appearances out of the pen.