Painful Stat Highlights Tony Santillan's Struggles for the Reds This Season

After a Blake Dunn home run tied the game at two earlier in the night, Tony Santillan came running out of the bullpen door in the top of the 9th inning. Reds fans collectively held their breath.

Heading into Wednesday, Santillan had a 6.65 ERA in 26 games for the Reds this season. He had also given up runs in eight of his last 12 appearances.

Santilan gave up a single to Jac Caglianone to start off the inning. After a sacrifice bunt moved him over to second, Michael Massey hit an RBI single to give the Royals a 3-2 lead. It was a 10-pitch at-bat in which Santillan threw all fastballs. While Santillan's velocity was up, he doesn't have the kind of velocity to get away with throwing 10 consecutive heaters to big leaguers.

After the single, the struggles continued as Nick Loftin hit a two-run home run, making it a 5-2 Royals lead. Santillan walked Lane Thomas before being pulled from the game. The Reds fell to 31-30 and lost the series to a bad Kansas City team.

Wrong Side of a Brutal Stat

May 19, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Cincinnati Reds pitcher Tony Santillan (64) throws a pitch during the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

According to Matt Wilkes of Reds Content Plus, Tony Santillan now has a -1.1 fWAR, the worst among all relievers in baseball.

After the game. Reds manager Terry Francona was asked why he elected to use Santillan in that situation.

"We’re at a point where we need some stability so much. He’s the guy… we’re going to have to figure that out. Do we pick our spots? We tried to do that before, but with everybody going down (with injuries), that’s been a little more difficult."

While Francona certainly doesn't have many options to go to in a close game, you simply can't keep running Santillan out there in close games at this rate. He's been one of the worst pitchers in the sport this season.

Francona was asked what has been the cause of Santillan's struggles this season.

"I'd say location," Francona said. "It may be different at different times. Like against the right-handed hitter tonight who hit the home run, he didn't locate his fastball. It happened the other day too against a right-handed hitter. At times his breaking ball has been in and out. I think his fastball is becoming more consistent."

You can watch Francona's full comments below:

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