Tejay Antone: Everything you need to know

The Reds selected Antone's contract from Triple-A Louisville on Wednesday. Antone's return to the big leagues is a great story of perseverance, as he's believed to be the third pitcher to make it back to the majors following three Tommy John surgeries, per Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now Cincinnati. The 32-year-old righty earned a promotion after collecting a 2.25 ERA and 15:6 K:BB over 12 innings with Louisville. When Antone gets into a game, it will be his first at the big-league level since April 7, 2024.

The Reds reassigned Antone to minor-league camp Sunday. Antone owns a 2.47 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 76.2 innings in parts of four seasons in the majors with Cincinnati, but he spent the entire 2025 campaign in the minors after completing his recovery the third elbow surgery of his career. The 32-year-old lefty struggled during his stops between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville last season, and while his numbers in the Cactus League this spring (7.94 ERA, 1.94 WHIP and 7:4 K:BB in 5.2 innings) weren't anything special, Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now Cincinnati notes that Antone's velocity was up from 2025. Antone will still need to translate those velocity gains into better results at Triple-A before potentially earning another look in the majors at some point later on in 2026.

Antone (elbow) has given up six earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three batters over 2.1 innings in three appearances for Double-A Chattanooga since being transferred to the affiliate after he was activated from Triple-A Louisville's 60-day injured list Aug. 27. Antone had resided on Louisville's IL all season while he completed his recovery from April 2024 surgery to repair the UCL and flexor tendon in his right elbow. The operation was the third Tommy John surgery of Antone's career, and given the sketchy track record of pitchers returning from two such procedures to become effective big leaguers, the odds are against the right-hander re-emerging as a reliable bullpen piece for Cincinnati. Though he pitched well over his five rehab outings in the Florida State League, Antone hasn't found much initial success since reporting to Chattanooga.