'Miserable' '22 done, Santillan eyes healthy return

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- No matter what the stat line will say, whenever Reds reliever Tony Santillan gets into a regular-season game in 2023, it will be a good day.

Santillan last pitched June 13, 2022, vs. Arizona. Four days later, he was placed on the injured list with a lower back injury and missed the rest of the season.

“My first goal is to get that first pitch, first outing out of the way in the big leagues and try to enjoy it afterwards. After that, it will be go-time," Santillan said. "The first one I will enjoy, for sure.”

Santillan, 25, had a 2.91 ERA in 26 games (four starts) as a rookie in 2021 when he began as a starter before transitioning to the bullpen and showing he could thrive working in high-leverage situations.

The '22 season opened with Santillan closing some games -- including one successfully on Opening Day at Atlanta -- and he notched four saves in seven chances. In May, he settled in, posting a 2.53 ERA in 10 appearances, with 14 strikeouts to six walks in 10 2/3 innings.

By June, his back started failing and before long, the right-hander could no longer pitch. Santillan does not know how or why it happened.

"Honestly, that’s the million-dollar question," he said. "It just creeped up out of nowhere and then just got worse as I pitched through it. I don’t think we’ll ever really know what caused it."

Early on, there wasn't much Santillan could do. He had been given shots to get relief, but those had all been exhausted without results.

"It was almost impossible to find any way to get comfortable," Santillan said. "I was miserable for a few months. The only thing we had left was just rest. We were trying to avoid surgery at all costs. That was the very last resort. It was extremely frustrating, not fun at all. It was something that was supposed to be a quick turnaround and I’d get back and play."

Reds manager David Bell could tell Santillan was hurting both from the injury and from being inactive while his teammates were performing and going through what would become a 100-loss season.

When Santillan asked, Bell permitted the reliever to go home to Texas to get away from baseball for a while. Bell knew his pain -- having been through a back injury as a player with the Phillies in 2003.

"The time that I did play, I definitely shouldn’t have. I was terrible," Bell said. "I dealt with it for a whole year and I know how it can affect you even when you’re mentally strong and you feel like you have it all together. I was just trying to help him know that he would get through it."

At home in Arlington, Santillan was with his wife and baby daughter, who is almost a year old. It was better, but there wasn't much he could do. Even playing with the baby or sitting while playing video games felt painful for a while.

Slowly, but surely, the pain reduced, and Santillan got moving again.

"I had small baby victories, whether it was getting through a couple of sets in rehab, or going on with my daily life with minimal pain or discomfort," Santillan said. "I tried to find victories in my days and stay positive. It was extremely hard to do that early on."

By Jan. 1, Santillan was cleared to throw a baseball again and work toward getting his arm back in shape. He came to camp behind schedule and is still only up to throwing in some side bullpen sessions. His first live batting practice session against hitters is scheduled for Friday.

If all goes according to plan, Santillan could miss only the first couple of weeks of the regular season before he's able to pitch again for Cincinnati. Given the circumstances, Bell already has seen a difference in his reliever's demeanor.

"When I saw his face this spring, everything just looked so much healthier and I was happy for him," Bell said. "I don’t know that we saw the real Tony even one time last year when he was pitching. He’s going to be a big part of our bullpen."

Santillan looked forward to being used in high-leverage situations again. But first things first.

Said Santillan: "My goal is to get healthy and no matter what situation I get when I get back, as long as I’m able to step on the mound in front of other people and face a hitter in a game, it will mean a lot."