Reds quietly facing scary bullpen problem fans didn’t see coming

The Cincinnati Reds won their opening series against the Boston Red Sox thanks in large part to the bullpen. Cincinnati's relief corps covered seven innings during the Reds' 6-5 victory over the Red Sox on Saturday. Then the bullpen gave Terry Francona another four innings in relief of Rhett Lowder to bolt down Sunday's 3-2 win over Boston.

But Tony Santillan — arguably Cincinnati's most reliable relief pitcher last season — did not look like himself. His fastball was sitting at about 93-94 mph, which is quite the drop from the 96.3 mph average his heater registered in 2025.

Reds reliever Tony Santillan looked out of sync vs. Red Sox

Obviously the first thing that comes to mind when fans see a dip in velocity is injury, but Santillan went to the rubber on back-to-back days. While players can do their best to mask specific ailments, it was obvious to anyone watching — including the Reds' coaching staff — that Santillan didn't have his best stuff. If there was an injury concern, surely the Reds would've investigated it further.

Santillan was an absolute workhorse for Francona in 2025, having made 80 relief appearances over 73⅔ innings. He had an abbreviated camp this spring, and that was by design. After logging eight innings during Cactus League play in 2024 and 2025, he threw just 6⅓ innings during this year's spring training.

The Reds will need Santillan to be that reliable back-end reliever once again in 2026, but at the moment, there's reason for fans to be a little nervous. While he struck out five batters over the weekend, he also walked four others. That type of production won't keep Santillan in his eighth-inning role for very long.

Thankfully, if Santillan struggles, Cincinnati has a young upstart ready to take his place at the back of the bullpen. Right-hander Connor Phillips looked dominant during his two innings of work on Saturday evening at Great American Ball Park. Phillips threw 23 total pitches, 16 of which landed for strikes.

Phillips punched out three Red Sox hitters and looked smooth doing it. He could become a key piece of the Reds bullpen moving forward, especially if Santillan continues to scuffle.