Cincinnati Reds’ Tejay Antone on 3rd elbow reconstruction: ‘I intend to keep pitching’
Staring his career mortality in the face one more time Sunday after his elbow came apart for the third time in his baseball career, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Tejay Antone was starting to come undone, too.
“I was in the training room,” he said. “Crying a lot. I was having a pretty emotional time.”
That’s when teammate Brent Suter — who’d become one of Antone’s closest friends on the team in just a couple of months together — popped in to check on his friend.
“He gave me a big hug and sat there with me for a second,” Antone said.
And then Suter got up because he had to go pitch some more. “I thought he was done,” Antone said. “I didn’t realize he was going out to pitch another inning.
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“That guy’s awesome. That’s all I’ve got to say,” Antone said. “That’s a top-2 teammate, and he ain’t No. 2. Just an incredible human.”
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Maybe that’s all that Antone needed in that moment. A hug. A friend.
Because by the time an MRI on Monday revealed the severity of an injury that will require another season-ending elbow reconstruction on Friday, and by the time Antone met with media to share his thoughts Tuesday, he talked like a man ready for yet another fight for his baseball life.
“I do intend to keep pitching,” he said. “I think I have an opportunity and responsibility to do this, not only for myself but for the kids out there dealing with this.”
The difference, he said, is that he has the luxury of access to the best medical resources and an opportunity, while remaining under contract, providing a route to pour himself into a chance to come back. If he has the desire and the will.
“I have an opportunity to be the person that makes it back from three,” he said. “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. I think I can do it again.”
Jonny Venters, a 2011 All-Star, returned from three Tommy John surgeries, his last return in 2018 (he pitched through 2019). Few if any others have done it.
Antone prepared for all surgery will take
“It’s going to take a whole village. It really is. It already has,” Antone said of the road he faces. “And I appreciate all the support from my family and from the Reds community. It’s just been incredible.
“This is going to be a war to get this done,” he added. “It’s going to be tough. But I’m going to go for it.”
Antone, 30, had the classic Tommy John surgery in 2017, his torn ulnar collateral ligament replaced with a tendon from his wrist and attached through holes drilled into the two elbow bones.
In 2021, he suffered a fracture in the bone at one of the anchor points that had been drilled, and the process had to be repeated. This time, after setbacks along the way, it took two years to return last September for five appearances.
Antone, who has become an amateur expert on his elbow through the experiences, said Friday’s procedure is “nearly the same” as a Tommy John reconstruction, with one main difference being that instead of an organic tendon from another part of his body, a manufactured “brace” is used instead. Another difference this time: His flexor tendon must be completely reattached after a full detachment from the bone in the same place where he had a partial detachment repaired.
In theory some of those differences might cut down some on the timeline for a return and increase by degrees the likelihood of a return.
Wherever that long road leads him, Antone already seems far more prepared for it than even a day or two before.
“Sunday was a very, very tough day for me,” he said. “There were other things going on outside of baseball, just some family issues. So that coupled with what happened on the field was just tough to swallow. It was a very abrupt change in my life.”
Antone's goal is to be the pitcher he used to be
One thing Antone said he’s not going to do this time around as he plots his return is change who he was when he enjoyed pitching most: A hard-throwing, dominant, strikeout machine. He learned to back off the accelerator during his last return from surgery in an attempt to avoid further injury.
“I had a lot more fun letting it eat and just throwing hard,” he said. “And I think that’s what I’m going to be trying to do when I come back. And you know what? If it doesn’t come back, then I’ll move on and I’ll swallow that pill when the time comes.”
His way or the highway. The Autobahn or the off ramp.
“I’m going to go for it,” he said, “I’m going to try to throw hard, and I’m going to be the pitcher I was in ’21, because those moments out on the mound, the team that we were then — even how I was just a week ago in Philly (when he topped 95 mph) — that’s the pitcher I want to be. Throwing hard. Throwing great pitches. Not trying to finesse too much.
“I was really trying to finesse to see if I could make it last,” he said. “Obviously, it didn’t last. So I’d like to go for it.”
OK, see how much you know about the Reds
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds' Tejay Antone vows rare return from 3rd elbow rebuild
