CINCINNATI — Tejay Antone is a man of deep faith and belief in himself.
These two qualities have already been tested significantly in the last week. He suffered what he termed a “very abrupt change” in his life.
“Sunday was a very, very tough day for me,” Antone began in a 14-minute media briefing drawing back the curtain on his personal and professional life. “There were other things that were going on outside of baseball that were just some family issues, that coupled with what happened on the field was just tough to swallow and it’s very abrupt change in my life.”
Antone is committed to not giving up, despite a pending third major elbow surgery this Friday under the knife of Reds medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek.
He had a first Tommy John ulnar collateral ligament repair in 2017 when he was in the minor leagues. He returned throwing 100 miles an hour when he reached Cincinnati in 2020 and was quickly rising up the ranks of big league relievers when he suffered an avulsion fracture when the bone holding the UCL in place broke.
He suffered a forearm strain that shortened his 2023 season after he battled and battled to get back on the field.
He had learned to modify his pitching approach this spring, impressing pitching coach Derek Johnson enough to declare that Antone would be on the roster if healthy because his stuff is that good.
“I think I have the opportunity to be the person that makes it back from three.” An inspiring message of conviction from Reds reliever Tejay Antone on setting sights on returning from another elbow surgery pic.twitter.com/RzeLJ6iipf
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) April 9, 2024
Then, one pitch into his fifth appearance Sunday against the Mets, he felt something go in his right elbow. It turned out not to be a UCL injury but rather the a tendon ripping completely off the bone. The flexor tear was similar to the rupture that happened to Ken Griffey Jr.’s hamstring in 2004.
Dr. Kremchek performed the repair on Junior and he will perform the procedure on Antone’s right elbow Friday.
“The flexor fully tore off the bone this time,” Antone related Tuesday. “And the last time I think it was a small flexor tear, that was needing to be stitched and Dr. Kremchek stitched it down. But this time the flexor fully pulled off of the bone. So, from my understanding, he’s a little bit more optimistic because he’s able to kind of re-attach the whole thing versus just trying to fix a small part of it.
“So, based on what he was telling me after my MRI, it seemed like he was very optimistic. He mentioned another player for the Orioles I believe that had a flexor tear completely off the bone and he made He made it back in six months. He didn’t have a UCL tear as well. So I’ll have the internal brace put in this time instead of my own tendons because obviously my tendons don’t work very well. I’m going to need an internal brace. So hopefully that’ll be a little bit stronger this time and the flexor will will be a lot stronger versus just a stitch.”
Those are the mechanics of the injury and repair.
The emotions and psychology are another matter altogether.
First things first, Antone does plan on pitching again. He feels an obligation and responsibility to those in the sport not as fortunate to have the medical resources that he has in surgeons, doctors and trainers to nurse him back to health.
“I do intend to keep pitching. I think I have an opportunity and a responsibility to do this, not only for myself, but for the other kids out out there dealing with this,” Antone said. “The cool thing about baseball is contracts are guaranteed. So it’s not like there’s kids out there that are in high school or in college and their careers are over. They don’t have the best medical attention in the world.
“And so I think I have an opportunity to be the person that makes it back from three (surgeries). I know I have the perseverance. I know I have the work ethic and then with the team of medical experts that are around. Like why not me? I know you guys have heard me say this before but you also saw me come back from that and I think I can do it again and it’s going to take the whole (team), it really is.”
Antone, at 30, still believes the window is open on his career. He also believes he can draw on his faith and his support, not only from teammates but well-wishing fans he’s already heard from in the last several days.
“I appreciate all the support from my family and from the Reds community and it’s just been incredible the amount of support,” Antone said. “I’ve received the text messages and the messages on Instagram. I’m reading every single one of them. I’m trying to respond to every single one of them because I really do appreciate it and I want to show that appreciation to them.”
No one does Antone appreciate more than fellow reliever Brent Suter, who after his second inning of relief of Antone Sunday, came up the tunnel to check on Antone.
“I tried to find him right away,” Suter said after Sunday’s game. “He was with the doctor right when I came in, but after my second inning, I came in and was able to give him a big hug and all of us were here for him — whatever he needs. I just want to hug him all night.
“I was actually there when he snapped it the second time in Milwaukee and that was heart-wrenching even from the other side and now he’s my teammate and close friend on the team and for him to go down like that, it’s just gut-wrenching.”
Those words and actions meant the world to Antone.
“The guy’s awesome,” Antone said of Suter. “That’s all I got to say. I mean (if there) are top two teammates, he ain’t number two. He is an incredible teammate. We have a short time of knowing each other and we’ve gotten so close. I think a lot of it revolves around with us both (being) Christians and spending a lot of time together.
“When he came and saw me, I thought he was done. I didn’t realize that he was going out for another inning when I was in the training room, crying a lot. I was having a pretty emotional time and he came in and sat there with me for a second and went back out and pitched another inning. I was just like I didn’t really realize that until after the game was over. So just incredible. He cares and he has a really, really good character. Really good character.”
“Just an incredible teammate” Tejay Antone on what it meant for Brent Suter to check on him Sunday during Suter’s relief appearance pic.twitter.com/tnZgZnuAAx
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) April 9, 2024
When you have teammates in the bunker with you, it’s easier to go do battle. And Antone knows he’s in for the fight of a career to try to make a third journey back.
“This is going to be a war to get this done,” Antone said, not sugar-coating the mountain ahead of him. “It’s going to be tough, but I’m going to go for it.”
David Bell said Tuesday that there was some good news on the Matt McLain front. Bell said that the infielder was able to move his left shoulder around just a couple of days after surgery to correct the injury that was sustained while diving for a ball during team drills in spring training.
“I talked to Matt today. He feels great,” Bell said. “He was moving his shoulder around he said two days after surgery, which I think is a good sign. We’re still kind of finalizing the exact dates for progression but I think it’s safe to say the goal would be to get him back during the season, before September would be the goal. So, sometime in August would be great. Getting him back at all would be great but I think that’s realistic based on what we know right now.”
McLain had surgery on March 26 to repair his labrum and torn meniscus in the left shoulder.
TJ Friedl is scheduled for another MRI Friday on his healing right wrist, fractured while diving for a ball on March 16. The initial diagnosis was 3-4 weeks before a reassessment. That reassessment is coming on Friday.
“Friday he’s getting examined again and then he’ll be building up from there,” Bell said. “He feels great that it’s healing perfectly fine.”
