PITTSBURGH -- An already thinned-by-injuries Reds bullpen will have to get by without another important reliever after Tony Santillan went on the 15-day injured list Friday because of a strained left oblique.
The move is retroactive to Tuesday. Santillan underwent an MRI exam on Wednesday.
“It came back that he had a pretty significant oblique injury, so we’re going to lose him for a while," manager Terry Francona said.
Santillan, 29, last pitched Monday during a 2-1 loss in 10 innings to the Brewers. Taking over in a scoreless game, the right-hander gave up two runs in the top of the 10th, including a wild pitch that scored the inning's second run.
But it wasn't clear -- to Santillan or the club -- exactly when or how the reliever was injured.
“The last night he pitched, he didn’t feel anything," Francona said. "He came in the next day and he was down [from pitching], so he hadn’t even really picked up a ball much because he knew he wasn’t going to pitch. And I think he felt stiff. Then he went out to throw on Wednesday and didn’t feel good.”
Cincinnati now has all three of its highest-leverage relievers in Santillan, Graham Ashcraft and closer Emilio Pagán on the IL. Ashcraft has been on the 60-day IL since May 29 with a right UCL sprain, while Pagán has been out since May 6 with a left hamstring strain.
“After the game the other night, as difficult as the game was, Tony’s in my office and he’s more worried about us than him," Francona said. "And it about brought me to my knees. This guy is what you’re looking for. It hurt personally. We’re going to have to figure it out as a team and that’s not going to be easy, but this was way more important talking to Tony about it.”
While the Reds will be without Santillan for an extended period, they could soon get Pagán back. After his scheduled rehab outing was rained out Thursday, he pitched on Friday for Triple-A Louisville against St. Paul, working a scoreless inning with only six pitches.
Pagán is scheduled to pitch again for Louisville on Sunday, and if that goes without an issue, he would be activated to rejoin the bullpen.
Right-handed rookie reliever Zach McCambley was recalled from Louisville to replace Santillan.
After he was second in the big leagues with a career-high 80 appearances last season, Santillan was locked into his setup role ahead of Pagán in Cincinnati's bullpen. But he posted a 5.23 ERA in 34 appearances this season -- which included a deep stretch of struggles throughout May and early June.
Lately, there were signs of turning a corner. A stretch of seven straight scoreless appearances for Santillan culminated with a two-inning save with only 16 pitches on Sunday vs. the Yankees, before he allowed the two runs to the Brewers on Monday.
“He was doing good and he’ll do good again," Francona said.