Tejay

Antone

Antone is back in the fold with Cincinnati as extra organizational relief depth after being jettisoned earlier this month from the club’s 40-man roster. The 30-year-old right-hander, who made four appearances last year for the Reds, was one of the better high-leverage relief weapons in the game a few years ago, but his career has been derailed by an avalanche of elbow issues. At this point, he’s more of a low-probability lottery ticket than anything else for Cincinnati heading into 2025.

Antone went unclaimed and has elected to stay in the Cincinnati organization. The 30-year-old will have a chance to compete for a bullpen spot in 2025 if he’s healthy, but will need to be added back to the 40-man roster if the Reds wanted him to pitch in the majors.

The Reds made the move to add Livan Soto to the 40-man roster. The 30-year-old has now had three elbow surgery during his career, so it’ll be a challenge for the right-hander to make it back on the mound in the major leagues.

Antone told reporters this week that he’s planning to make it back to the big leagues again and has zero plans to retire. Whether he’ll actually be able to return following his third elbow surgery is an entirely different matter.

It’s a brutal blow for the 30-year-old Antone, who has already had two Tommy John surgeries. While he flashed intriguing upside in the past when healthy, there’s a high likelihood that we may never see Antone on a major league mound again.

The 30-year-old hurler was pulled from Sunday’s appearance against the Mets after only one pitch due to the injury. It’s a crushing blow to the Reds’ bullpen and to Antone personally, as he fought so hard over the past two years to return from his second Tommy John surgery. The severity of the injury won’t be known until after Monday’s exam, but expect that Antone will be heading to the injured list regardless.

Antone threw just one pitch before leaving the contest. There should be an update on his status before the conclusion of Sunday’s game. Antone was a big part of the Cincinnati bullpen when healthy, but he’s struggled to stay on the diamond since the start of 2021.

The dynamic Antone has been hit hard by the injury bug of late, pitching just 5 2/3 innings since 2021. However, he has been electric when on the mound for the Reds, registering a career 2.41 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 94/31 K/BB Ratio in 74 2/3 innings. The team will hope they can find a way to keep him on the field in 2024.

The 29-year-old right-hander has been shelved since mid-September due to right elbow tendonitis. The Reds had been hopeful that he would be able to rejoin their bullpen before the end of the regular season, but it sounds like Antone has been slow to make any progress in his recovery.

Antone was sent to the 15-day injured list earlier this week with right elbow discomfort and additional testing revealed almost a best-case scenario outcome. The veteran right-hander has missed the majority of the last two years recovering from Tommy John surgery in addition to a couple setbacks. There’s optimism that he’ll receive treatment and be ready to return before the regular season wraps up.