Spencer Steer and Tony Santillan to undergo surgery for wrist and hip injuries

Spencer Steer and Tony Santillan will both undergo surgery for their respective injuries, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reported, delivering a pair of significant medical updates for a Cincinnati Reds club already navigating a difficult close to the 2026 season.

What happened

Per Mark Sheldon's report on MLB.com, Steer — the Reds' third baseman — will have wrist surgery, an outcome that figures to sideline him for an extended period. Santillan, a reliever in the Cincinnati bullpen, will undergo hip surgery, placing his availability for the season in serious doubt.

The Santillan news arrives in close sequence with a separate roster move: the Reds had placed him on the 15-day injured list with a torn hip labrum, with manager Terry Francona indicating surgery was likely — a possibility that, per earlier Posterior reporting, could affect Santillan's availability into 2027. The surgical confirmation from MLB.com now makes that concern concrete.

Why it matters

Neither player is in a position to help Cincinnati down the stretch, but the implications extend well past the final weeks of this season. Wrist surgery for a position player and hip labrum surgery for a pitcher both carry recovery arcs that can stretch into the offseason and, in some cases, into the following spring — though no timetable has been reported for either player.

For Santillan, the hip labrum diagnosis is the kind of structural issue that tends to demand patience. Earlier reporting noted that his 2026 season is over, and the suggestion that his availability could bleed into 2027 makes roster planning for next spring a more complicated exercise. For Steer, the wrist is a particularly consequential joint for a hitter — but again, no recovery window has been attached to the procedure in the material available.

What the club has not provided, and what Mark Sheldon's report does not specify, is a projected return date for either player. That uncertainty is worth sitting with rather than papering over.

Where the club stands

The Reds enter Wednesday's action at 73-84 (.465), sitting fifth in the NL Central, 25 games back of the division leader. They have been eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race — the latter by 14.0 games relative to the cut line, where they rank ninth in the Wild Card standings. The club is riding a one-game winning streak, which is the kind of detail that earns a polite nod at this point in a 73-84 season.

Cincinnati is at Truist Park on Wednesday, where Andrew Abbott is the probable starter against Atlanta's Chris Sale. Thursday brings Brady Singer to the mound against Tyler Mahle. The series then shifts to Rogers Centre in Toronto on Friday, where Nick Lodolo — who, per earlier Posterior reporting, dealt with a nagging blister issue but appears to have resolved it and is pitching well late in the season — is lined up against a Toronto starter yet to be named.

None of those matchups are affected by the Steer or Santillan news in any immediate sense; both players were already unavailable. But the rotation and bullpen picture for 2027 is where these updates will eventually land with real weight.

What we don't know yet

The most obvious gap in the available reporting is timeline. Neither Steer's wrist surgery nor Santillan's hip procedure comes with a projected recovery window in Mark Sheldon's report or in the surrounding material. For a club doing its offseason arithmetic, those are not small blanks.

It is also worth noting what the Santillan situation has looked like in layers: the IL placement came first, the torn hip labrum diagnosis followed, the surgery likelihood was flagged by Francona, and now the surgical decision has been reported by MLB.com. Each step has added specificity, but the question of when Santillan might be available to pitch again — in 2027 or otherwise — remains open.

For Steer, the wrist surgery report is the first surgical confirmation in the available material. Whether the procedure is expected to have him ready for spring training or whether it carries a longer horizon is not something that has been reported.

What to watch

The practical question for Reds fans heading into the offseason is straightforward: when do the club and the medical staff provide recovery timelines for both players? Those updates will shape how Cincinnati approaches its roster this winter, particularly given that the club is already working through a season that has produced a 73-84 record with several weeks still to play.

The Santillan situation carries an added layer of watch-worthiness given the earlier suggestion that his availability could extend into 2027. Hip labrum procedures in pitchers are not uniform in their recovery demands, and the specifics of his surgery — none of which have been reported — will matter considerably when the club begins mapping out its bullpen for next year.

A few days removed from Chase Burns being placed on the injured list with a groin strain, the Reds' pitching staff has absorbed a series of significant injury updates in a short span. Burns' placement, Santillan's IL move and now his surgical confirmation, and Lodolo's blister situation — which appears resolved — have all arrived in close succession. The club's pitching health this offseason will be worth monitoring closely as a result.

For now, the news from MLB.com is surgical: Steer's wrist, Santillan's hip, and a pair of recovery clocks that have started ticking without a public finish line attached.