Reds Beat: Tony ‘Oso’ Santillan Is Proving To Be A Bear at Backend of Reds Bullpen ‘I (freaking) love him’

CINCINNATI — Tony Santillan has been much more than just an unsung hero to the Reds bullpen this season. He’s been the linchpin to the backend of the relief corps.

The 28-year-old is one of the most valuable players on the roster. Not only is he the No. 1 setup man to closer Emilio Pagan, he is under team control through the 2028 season. He’s extremely affordable, making just $1 million this season – though he could see a massive raise in 2026 if he keeps up his 2025 pace.

Entering Wednesday, he’s appeared in a team-leading 35 games in relief, fourth-highest among all MLB pitchers. He’s been critical to the Reds recent success that’s led to eight wins in 10 games. He’s held the opposition scoreless in his last seven appearances, covering 6 2/3 innings. His scoreless inning Tuesday in Cincinnati’s 6-5 win marked his 28th scoreless appearance, tied for fourth-highest in the National League and sixth-best in MLB.

His 19 hitless appearances rank eighth in the Majors. He has stranded nine of 14 inherited runners this season and he already has a career-best 15 holds, ranked seventh in MLB.

Santillan’s role has only increased with the trade of the struggling Alexis Diaz to the Dodgers. As a matter of fact, the Reds knew they’d have to lean on him more heavily this season with Diaz ineffective in spring training dealing with a hamstring injury and Rhett Lowder on the shelf with a right forearm strain in spring training. Adding to the Reds early woes, Sam Moll came up with a sore left shoulder, Carson Spiers and Ian Gibaut deal with right shoulder issues.

That left Terry Francona with few options but to lean on Santillan, at first as a possible closer and then emerging as Pagan’s setup man. Right now, Santillan is the critical bridge between Scott Barlow and Pagan.

But when Francona looks to him in the bullpen, there’s something else the Reds manager takes into consideration. The right-handed Santillan – nicknamed ‘Oso’ by his teammates – is holding left-handed batters to a .167/.267/.333 slash line, featuring simply a four-seam fastball/slider mix. He fanned left Brooks Lee to start a key strike-out-throw-out double play in the eighth Tuesday, with the Reds leading, 6-5. He struck out Carlos Correa to end the inning.

Oso is Spanish for bear, as in Teddy Bear. “It’s kind of weird, because when he doesn’t pitch, he gets a little like a bull in a china shop out there,” Francona joked before Wednesday’s game. “So, we got to try to not let him go too far, but I don’t want to kill him. … I (freaking) love him. He’s a big teddy bear until he starts pitching, then he’s what you’re looking for.”

Other Francona Pregame Notes Wednesday:

Graham Ashcraft felt the groin grab after last outing in Detroit Sunday. Got an MRI Tuesday. “He says he’s already feeling a little better today. I think sometimes the hope is, like when guys are trying to compete, like when you kind of pull the plug on that part of it and let them their brain relax a little bit, maybe it helps everything.”

Hunter Greene (groin) got worked out in Arizona Monday and Tuesday. “He’s having good work days.”

Tyler Callihan (60-day IL), who broke his left forearm chasing a ball in foul territory in Atlanta on May 5, showed up in Reds clubhouse Wednesday with a glove, anxious to get back to baseball activities, with a rod surgically inserted in his left forearm. “It’s amazing. Yeah, kind of amazing, and there’s some other things that he’s going to work through, and we’ll get to that, I think, here in the near future. But he’s got some decisions to make on how to go with this, so when the times right, we’ll talk about it.”