Tony Santillan's slump is forcing Reds into a dangerous late-inning reality

Tony Santillan was arguably the Cincinnati Reds best bullpen arm in 2025. Unfortunately, the life of a reliever is a fickle one, and Santillan has hit a rough patch to begin the 2026 season. The right-hander has allowed 12 earned runs over his last nine appearances and has blown two saves along the way. This is the last thing the Reds can afford with closer Emilio Pagán on the injured list.

Last season, Santillan was Terry Francona's go-to pitcher in the eighth inning, and the bridge to Pagán. On Friday night, he entered the game against the Cleveland Guardians in the seventh inning with the Reds holding a 3-1 lead.

Santillan struck out Guardians' shortstop Brayan Rocchio to begin the inning and induced a pop up from outfielder Steven Kwan. All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez then ripped a line drive into right field to bring the tying run to the plate.

Santillan was able to work around the two-out base knock, as Chase DeLauter harmlessly flied out to left field to end the inning. While the Reds' reliever emerged unscathed, the final pitch to DeLauter was fastball right down the middle of the plate that the Guardians' rookie just missed. In other words, Santillan averted disaster by the skin of his teeth (again).

Unfortunately, Santillan's shaky performance was the best of the night outside of Tejay Antone's lock-down save in the ninth inning. Five Reds relievers combined to allow five runs on four hits and five walks. Two of the runs came courtesy of bases loaded walks in the eighth inning.

The Reds bullpen is in trouble without Emilio Pagán

Though Pagán had been a source of frustration for some within the Cincinnati fanbase, he was a known commodity in the ninth inning. Unless he'd appeared in three consecutive games, the Reds' closer was taking the ball in the ninth inning with the lead.

Now, Francona is left with a closer-by-committee approach and Cincinnati has no reliable option in late-game situations. This will be the story until Pagán returns from the IL, and at the moment, the veteran is expected to miss at least another three to seven weeks while recovering from a hamstring injury.

Antone provides somewhat of a calming presence at the backend of the bullpen, but after three Tommy John surgeries, the stuff is nowhere near what it used to be. Connor Phillips, Graham Ashcraft, and Luis Mey have all shown flashes, but all three pitchers have a walk rate above 14%. That trio is walking a combined 7.6 batters per nine innings pitched.

Santillan was supposed to be the Reds' "closer in waiting", but he's been anything but that this season. Without Pagán, the Cincinnati bullpen is teetering on the edge, which puts even more emphasis on a hot-and-cold that lineup. The Reds need Santillan to return to the player he was in 2025, but that seems like a pipe dream.

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