Reds fans are starting to see a little Nasty Boys attitude in this bullpen

Reds fans don’t throw around “Nasty Boys” like it’s a cute nickname you slap on any bullpen that can protect a two-run lead. That label is sacred territory in Cincinnati — the kind of thing you earn by turning the last three innings into a hostage situation.

Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton, and Randy Myers didn’t just pitch well in 1990. They changed the geometry of a game. They were loud, nasty, fearless, and they helped power a championship run by making opponents feel like the game ended after six innings.

No one is suggesting the 2026 Reds will create another group of players that will have all of that success together (a 2.28 ERA, 44 saves, etc.) with the "chemistry" aspect of those three being just as important as their talent.

That said, there is a connection between the current Reds and the original trio.

Reds fans are whispering “Nasty Boys” again — and it’s not totally crazy

Cincinnati has the pieces to recreate that “shorten the game” model again — not with legendary status yet, but with a real outline. And after watching what Emilio Pagán, Tony Santillan, and Graham Ashcraft did in 2025, it’s easy to see why Reds fans are starting to get excited.

Pagán, if we were going to hand out late inning job titles, is the one that wore the "closer" title more often than anyone else; and when he did wear it, he delivered on his promise. A 2.88 ERA in 70 games where he recorded a career high 32 saves. This is a "thank you for allowing people to get some rest", type of performance and it placed him as one of the top ninth inning options in the league.

Santillan became the bullpen's greatest type of problem, the one you could not stop using. He made 80 appearances, posting an ERA of 2.44 and produced 33 holds while fanning 75 batters in 73.2 innings of work.

And the wildcard here is Ashcraft — because that’s the part that makes this feel like it could turn into something more than “nice bullpen, anyway.” In 2025, Cincinnati used him exclusively out of the pen, and he gave them real bulk: 65.1 innings across 62 games with a 3.99 ERA. No saves. No glam. Just innings.

That’s the early outline of a modern Nasty Boys vibe: a closer who can finish, a setup monster who can handle leverage, and a third arm who changes your options in the 7th and 8th when the heart of the order shows up. And if Connor Phillips pushes his way into that mix too? Now you’re talking about depth that lets you get mean.

Are they the Nasty Boys? Not yet. But if the Reds can keep building a reliable 1-2-3 finish, fans won’t need to force the comparison. They’ll feel it. Because the real point of the Nasty Boys wasn’t nostalgia. It was the message: good luck scoring late.