Graham Ashcraft's injury just raised the stakes for this struggling Reds reliever

The Cincinnati Reds are going to be without Graham Ashcraft for the foreseeable future after he was placed on the 60-day injured list with a sprained right UCL. The timeline for Ashcraft's return has yet to be revealed, but he'll at least be out of action for the next two months.

The Reds selected the contract of Yunior Marté to offset the loss of Ashcraft, but he'll hardly be used in the same manner. Ashcraft was arguably Terry Francona's best high-leverage reliever, and Cincinnati now has a gaping hole in the back of their bullpen.

To make matters worse, some of the relievers Francona was hoping to lean on this season have underperformed. Tony Santillan's struggles have been well documented, but he seems to have turned a corner of late. The same cannot be said for Connor Phillips, however, who was recently optioned back to Triple-A.

Reds need a better version of Connor Phillips with Graham Ashcraft on the IL

Phillips made the Reds' Opening Day roster out of spring training, and certainly had some impressive outings during the first month of the 2026 season. From March 26 through April 30, Phillips posted a 2.04 ERA and was striking out 24% of the batters he faced.

But once May rolled around, the wheels absolutely fell off. Phillips made just nine relief appearances this month before being sent down, and posted an unacceptable 11.70 ERA across 10 innings of work. Phillips struck out nine batters, but walked 13 others, and his lack of command forced Cincinnati's front office to remove him from the active roster.

Phillips was sent back to the minors following last Saturday's doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals. He walked two of the six batters he faced in that game and also gave up a two-run homer. In his lone minor-league appearance this week, Phillips didn't allow a run over one inning of work, but he walked two of the four batters he faced.

Most coaches and players throughout the organization will tell you that Phillips has the best pure stuff on the team outside of Chase Burns. But his inability to locate pitches, particularly his fastball, has been a longstanding issue for the former top prospect.

Phillips is staring down a make-or-break opportunity, and if he fails to right the ship, he could follow in the footsteps of several other Reds' pitchers who failed to develop because of poor command and control.

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