Tony Santillan is forcing Reds into a move nobody would've imagined last year

At this point, it's fair to question whether or not Tony Santillan is broken beyond repair. He was the Cincinnati Reds best reliever a year ago, but he's quickly turned into the biggest liability in the bullpen. Yet for some reason, Reds manager Terry Francona continues to give him the ball in key situations.

It happened again on Wednesday night against the Kansas City Royals. With the scored tied at 2-2, Santillan came on in relief of Tejay Antone in the ninth inning, and immediately gave up a single to Jac Caglianone. Two batters later — after a sacrifice bunt — an RBI single off the bat of Michael Massey gave Kansas City a 3-2 lead.

One batter later, Nick Loftin took Santillan out of the yard, and the Royals led 5-2. The Reds' right-hander then walked Lane Thomas, which forced Francona to go with rookie pitcher Zach McCambley. The right-hander recorded bookend Ks to get out of the jam, but the Reds rally fell short in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Santillan in the ninth inning has been an absolute disaster this season. He's toed the rubber seven times in the ninth, and has an stunning 18.00 ERA while also having surrendered four home runs during the final frame. Opponents are touching him up to the tune of .440/.517/.920 when he's on the bump during the ninth inning.

So that begs the question; why in the world does Francona continue to turn to Santillan in the ninth inning with the game on the line?

Terry Francona needs to rework the Reds' bullpen hierarchy

Santillan can no longer take the mound in high-leverage situations. Period! End of story! But that presents another quandary for Francona. Who does he turn to with the game on the line?

Emilio Pagán is on the IL and so are Graham Ashcraft and Pierce Johnson. Antone has been serviceable in spots, but do you really a pitcher who's coming off his third Tommy John surgery acting as your closer? Probably not.

The young relievers like Zach McCambley, Luis Mey and Zach Maxwell can't be trusted, and the remaining arms are all southpaws. Sam Moll, Caleb Ferguson, and Brock Burke are all high-leverage options, but being that all three are left-handed, they may not match up well against the opposing team's lineup during the final inning.

This was supposed to be the role that Santillan filled. But he's much more suited for low-leverage scenarios at the moment. He's out of minor-league options, so those fans clamoring for him to be sent down are unlikely to get their wish.

Instead, Francona needs to ease off the pressure, and move Santillan into a role that's better suited for him. He currently owns a 0.00 ERA when pitching in the seventh inning. Maybe start there and see what happens.

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