Terry Francona Reveals Unfortunate Cincinnati Reds Injury News

The Cincinnati Reds were forced to place right-hander Tony Santillan on the 15-day injured list on Friday with a left oblique strain. Right-hander Zach McCambley was recalled from Triple-A to join the bullpen in a corresponding move.

Santillan has been a reliable arm in Cincinnati's bullpen for six seasons, debuting for the team back in 2021. He was originally a starter before transitioning to the bullpen, where he has spent a majority of his career. Last year he made an impressive 80 appearances and was incredibly effective, posting a 2.44 ERA along with 75 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings.

This year, though, his value has dropped off. Across 34 games, the 29-year-old has posted a 5.23 ERA. He is still striking out a decent amount of hitters with 28 in 31 innings, but he has been allowing far more hard contact.

He has already surrendered nine home runs, two more than he allowed in all of 2025. It is clear he has struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark, and now he likely will not get a chance to turn it around for quite some time. Unfortunately, Reds manager Terry Francona revealed this will be a lengthy absence for Santillan.

"Francona said the MRI showed a significant oblique injury for Santillan. He'll be out a while," reported Charlie Goldsmith of FOX19.

A significant oblique injury for a pitcher typically means months rather than weeks, and given that it is almost July, there is a real chance Santillan does not return in a meaningful capacity this season at all.

If the Reds continue to drop in the standings, there would not be any reason to rush him back. He remains under team control through the 2028 season, so the focus will be on getting him fully healthy rather than forcing a timeline.

This is just another brutal injury blow to Cincinnati's bullpen, which has severely regressed from a year ago. Dominant right-handed closer Emilio Pagan has missed over a month of time and has struggled when on the mound. With both Pagan and Santillan unavailable or ineffective, the bullpen has been one of the biggest reasons the Reds have struggled this year.

Entering Saturday, Cincinnati sits four games under the .500 mark. There is still time to turn it around and push back into the playoff race in the National League Central. They will just have to do it without Santillan for the foreseeable future.