Tejay Antone: Everything you need to know

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.

Antone (elbow) has tossed 2.2 scoreless innings across two rehab appearances with High-A Dayton. Antone is recovering from a third Tommy John surgery and has made a total of only nine appearances at the major-league level since 2022. The odds are against him making it back to be a successful reliever for the Reds, but it's possible he'll receive consideration for a promotion during the stretch run if he's pitching well.