Tony Santillan

Tony Santillan

27-Year-Old PitcherRP
Cincinnati Reds
2025 Fantasy Outlook
There was no outlook written for Tony Santillan in 2025. Check out the latest news below for more on his current fantasy value.
$Signed a one-year contract with the Reds in November of 2023.
Serving as opener Tuesday
PCincinnati Reds
July 30, 2024
Santillan will serve as the Reds' opening pitcher in Tuesday's game versus the Cubs, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Frankie Montas had been on turn to start Tuesday, but he was traded to the Brewers on Monday. Santillan is projected to work an inning or two in what will be a bullpen game for the Reds.
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Pitching Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
17
Last 10 Games
15
Last 5 Games
16
How many pitches does Tony Santillan generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Tony Santillan generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
 
 
-1%
BAA vs RHP
2024
 
 
-10%
BAA vs LHP
2023
 
 
-61%
BAA vs LHP
2022
 
 
-22%
BAA vs RHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2022vs Left .238 101 23 13 20 7 0 0
Since 2022vs Right .235 135 45 13 28 5 0 5
2024vs Left .174 48 16 2 8 1 0 0
2024vs Right .194 74 30 7 13 2 0 4
2023vs Left .167 9 1 3 1 1 0 0
2023vs Right .429 9 0 2 3 1 0 0
2022vs Left .344 44 6 8 11 5 0 0
2022vs Right .267 52 15 4 12 2 0 1
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
 
 
-59%
ERA on Road
2024
 
 
-64%
ERA on Road
2023
 
 
-100%
ERA on Road
2022
 
 
-51%
ERA on Road
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2022Home 5.87 1.91 23.0 1 3 1 12.5 6.7 1.2
Since 2022Away 2.40 1.00 30.0 3 1 3 10.8 2.7 0.6
2024Home 4.61 1.32 13.2 1 2 0 14.5 3.3 2.0
2024Away 1.65 0.73 16.1 2 1 0 13.2 2.2 0.6
2023Home 6.75 3.75 1.1 0 0 0 6.8 20.3 0.0
2023Away 0.00 2.00 2.0 1 0 0 0.0 9.0 0.0
2022Home 7.88 2.63 8.0 0 1 1 10.1 10.1 0.0
2022Away 3.86 1.20 11.2 0 0 3 9.3 2.3 0.8
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Tony Santillan compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
5.11
 
K/9
13.8
 
BB/9
2.7
 
HR/9
1.2
 
Fastball
97.3 mph
 
ERA
3.00
 
WHIP
1.00
 
BABIP
.306
 
GB/FB
0.81
 
Left On Base
77.9%
 
Exit Velocity
81.5 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
3.7%
 
Spin Rate
2326 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
18.0%
 
Swinging Strike
14.3%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Tony Santillan See More
Mound Musings: A Look at Pitching in the NL Central
290 days ago
Brad Johnson has moved to the NL Central, and in Cincinnati, Hunter Greene, with one of the biggest arms in baseball, clearly has considerable potential.
Mound Musings: The Endgame Odyssey Continues – National League
May 4, 2023
Brad Johnson dives into some unsettled National League bull pens, including in Washington, where Kyle Finnegan is getting most ninth-inning work for now.
Closer Encounters: 2023 Closer Rankings 2.0
March 17, 2023
Ryan Rufe shares his updated closer rankings, with Josh Hader taking the top spot following Edwin Diaz's knee injury.
Mound Musings: A Look at Pitching in the NL Central
March 9, 2023
Brad Johnson looks at pitching in the NL Central where in Cincinnati, he believes Nick Lodolo might be a value pick.
Closer Encounters: 2023 Closer Rankings
February 2, 2023
Ryan Rufe shares his 2023 closer rankings and breaks down his favorite targets as well as the relievers he's avoiding.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Santillan surprisingly earned the first save of the 2022 MLB season. The Reds didn't deploy him as a traditional closer, but was one of their highest leverage relievers early in the season. He finished with four saves and six holds across 21 appearances before a lower back strain ended his campaign in mid-June. Santillan threw both his slider and 96.2 mph fastball equally, but the latter was hammered to a .350 BA and .475 SLG despite adding 1.2 mph on the pitch, on average. The right-hander previously threw a changeup to left-handed hitters in 2021, but didn't have success with it and removed it from his arsenal last year. Despite a fairly secure high leverage role when healthy, Santillan is too risky of a spec for 2023 drafts. He's a WHIP liability with a career 4.7 BB/9 and is coming off a lengthy injury.
Santillan had been developed as a starter throughout his minor league career before getting the call to the majors in 2021, and first was deployed as a starter before shifting to the bullpen over the last two months of the season. He found more success as a reliever, posting a 2.36 ERA over 26.2 innings in that role, striking out 36 batters in that span. After getting stretched out at the beginning of camp in order to compete for a starter's job, Santillan was moved to the bullpen again late in spring training and manager David Bell announced that he would be used in high-leverage situations. With Lucas Sims on the IL to begin the season, those high-leverage situations include possible save chances, as was the case on Opening Day, though Santillan won't be used as a traditional closer.
It looked like Santillan had an outside chance to debut in 2019 after he reached Double-A in 2018 at age 21, totaling 62.1 innings at that level and pitching to a 3.61 ERA. We're still waiting. His second go-around at Double-A did not go as well, and while he was in the Reds' 60-player pool throughout the shortened 2020 season, he was never summoned from the alternate site. The Reds may be looking to trade a starter or two and most teams need at least eight starters to get through a normal season. This year will be anything but normal, and Santillan will almost certainly make his debut since he's on the 40-man roster. It will be sink-or-swim for the right-hander.
While Santillan appeared to have a chance to debut last season, pitching ended up being the Reds' strength at the big-league level and Santillan didn't do his part in forcing the issue. In fact, he didn't even pitch well enough to reach Triple-A. The big problem was the free passes, as Santillan's walk rate nearly doubled to 11.6% in his repeat of the Double-A level. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound righty spent time on the injured list with a shoulder injury and went on to make two additional trips to the IL over the final couple months. Santillan was a second-round pick (49th overall) in 2015 and some sites have slapped a 50 on his future value. However, the swing and miss has been lacking despite a good fastball/slider combo -- Santillan hasn't even cracked a 23 K% since Low-A ball -- and at this point it's fair to wonder whether his future lies in the bullpen. Santillan is fringe even in deep dynasty leagues.
With a highly-successful season split between High-A and Double-A, Santillan solidified his standing as one of the top pitching prospects in the Reds' organization. At age 21, Santillan cruised to a 2.70 ERA in 86.2 innings with High-A Daytona to earn a promotion to Pensacola in early July. His home-run rate more than doubled after the move up, but his walk rate held firm (6.0%) and he added to his strikeout rate, bumping it from 20.2% to 22.8% with the jump in levels. Santillan's blistering fastball is his best weapon -- he throws it in the upper-90s with movement. His slider and changeup both flash plus as well, and at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds, he looks capable of handling a significant workload. The Reds are starved for quality starting pitching, but they won't rush Santillan's development. Look for him to start this season at Triple-A Louisville before perhaps advancing to the big-league rotation at some point during the summer months.
Santillan's high-90s fastball is a monster pitch, and even when his control was well below-average (in 2016), that heater pointed to a big-league future in relief, where he would likely sit around 98-100 mph. His slider and changeup can each flash plus, which is another big mark in his favor, although he needs to gain more consistency with each of his secondaries. For evaluators who saw Santillan on the right day (when he was locating), he looked like a future frontline arm. He had two 10-strikeout games, needing 6.1 innings for one and six innings for the other. However, he also had six four-walk games and one five-walk game, taking the loss in five of those seven outings. His command needs to get to at least fringe-average and preferably average for him to profile as a No. 3 starter who strikes out over a batter per inning. If the command comes, he could be a fantasy force. If it doesn't, he would still have a chance to be a high-leverage reliever. He will head to High-A this season.
The narrative entering the season with Santillan was that he would need to make huge improvements with his control and changeup to realize his potential as a mid-rotation starter who strikes out a batter per inning. The 9.8 percent walk rate he posted in the Pioneer League was a big step in the right direction, but he then proceeded to walk 17.4 percent of the batters he faced after a promotion to the Midwest League. The changeup is a feel pitch, and he was not going to develop an average one overnight, so the most immediate concern is whether he can throw significantly more strikes in a return to Low-A Dayton. Santillan's double-plus fastball and hammer curveball are not going anywhere, so a high-leverage relief role remains his realistic floor. He turns 20 on April 15, affording him plenty of time to make the necessary improvements, but the most likely outcome is that yet another high-upside Reds pitching prospect winds up in the bullpen.
More Fantasy News
Called up from minors
PCincinnati Reds
July 13, 2024
Cincinnati selected Santillan's contract from Triple-A Louisville on Saturday.
ANALYSIS
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Reassigned to minor-league camp
PCincinnati Reds
March 22, 2024
The Reds reassigned Santillan to minor-league camp Friday, Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
ANALYSIS
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Re-signs on minors contract
PCincinnati Reds
November 2, 2023
Cincinnati re-signed Santillan on Thursday to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training.
ANALYSIS
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Outrighted to Louisville
PCincinnati Reds
September 1, 2023
Santillan cleared waivers Friday and was sent outright to Triple-A Louisville, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
ANALYSIS
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Dropped from 40-man roster
PCincinnati Reds
August 29, 2023
Santillan was designated for assignment by the Reds on Tuesday.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Unlikely to return
PCincinnati Reds
August 20, 2022
Santillan, out with a back injury, is a "long shot" to return this season, reports Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer.
ANALYSIS
After an excellent rookie campaign in 2021, hopes were high for Santillan this season but poor play and a back injury put a damper on his sophomore season. The 25-year-old was the Opening Day closer for the Reds, pitching a perfect ninth inning to save the game against the defending champs from Atlanta. There weren't many more save chances in the early going and when there were, he blew three opportunities. All in all, he posted a 5.49 ERA, 1.78 WHIP and 21:12 K:BB in 19.2 innings for Cincinnati. He's quite likely to be a part of the Reds' plans moving forward but may have to serve as a setup man to the new closer, Alexis Diaz, heading into 2023.
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