Awful news for the twice-repaired right elbow of the righthander.
It looked bad when Tejay Antone delivered his first and only pitch of the game on Sunday, an 89 mph squealer that didn’t look like it went at all where he intended. He winced. He exited with the trainer. He clearly had pain in the same elbow in which he had already endured Tommy John surgery twice – once in 2017, and again in 2021.
On Monday, the bad news was confirmed by manager David Bell. A tendon popped completely off the bone in his elbow, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon relayed, and there’s some ligament damage in there as well.
It’s once again going to mean season-ending surgery for Antone, a completely brutal development for the once-promising Reds reliever.
Antone https://t.co/rC0eZkxm5V
— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) April 8, 2024
Carson Spiers was summoned to take Antone’s spot on the roster as Tejay will, for now, land on the 15-day IL (until an inevitable transfer to the 60-day).
The #Reds today recalled from Triple-A Louisville RHP Carson Spiers and placed on the 15-day injured list RHP Tejay Antone (elbow inflammation). pic.twitter.com/whQPMB96aR
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 8, 2024
It’s terrible news for Antone, obviously, but apparently he seems to be taking it about as well as anyone could. The Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmeyer seemed to indicate that Antone certainly intends on resuming his career once the surgery, which is scheduled for Friday, is completed and his rehab process begins.
Best of luck to Tejay on his recovery, again. Damn.