The Cincinnati Reds bullpen already had the highest ERA in the Major Leagues and now it'll be without its most reliable pitcher for at least the next week.
Tejay Antone was placed on the 10-day injured list with right forearm inflammation on Friday. The move is retroactive to Tuesday, so he's eligible to return next Friday.
Manager David Bell said he was "very confident" that Antone would be ready to return from the IL by the end of next week.
The Reds did not make a corresponding roster move Friday. Right-handed pitcher Tony Santillan will be promoted from Triple-A Louisville to start Sunday's game against the Colorado Rockies, which will be his Major League debut.
"It’s something that we just want to make sure we stay ahead of," Bell said. "It was never anything that’s kept him from pitching or was that concerning, but it did get to a point where it just made the most sense to be ahead of it, for our season, for his career."
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Antone described the injury as something that has lingered for a few weeks. It didn't affect the way he pitched, but there were days when he asked the coaching staff for an extra day between relief appearances.
"It’s kind of been under the radar," Antone said. "I’ve been working through it. It comes in waves. It’s just soreness, inflammation. It gets bad. It gets good. It was just lingering and we just decided to take the precautionary measures and get ahead of it instead of keep pushing through it."
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Antone warmed up in the ninth inning during the Reds' 7-3 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers after Heath Hembree gave up a home run, but he wasn't needed when Hembree recorded the final out.
He had his arm examined before Thursday's day game, which is why he was unavailable for the Reds' series finale against Milwaukee.
"I was warming up, and it didn’t feel great," Antone said. "It was taking a long time to get game ready. I had expressed that to (bullpen coach) Lee (Tunnell). I think that’s kind of the conversation, like, 'hey, it’s actually starting to affect me.' Luckily, it wasn’t in the game or anything, but it was starting to affect my preparation, and it could kind of get worse.
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"It was extremely hard for me to kind of accept the IL. As of (Thursday), I told him I was good to go and wanted to push through it, continue to push through it. They kind of made that decision for me, and I agree with it. I think it is the smart decision, but I’m good. A couple days, let me get back, reset, and I’ll be ready to go."
Antone missed the 2017 minor-league season after he underwent Tommy John surgery. His current injury, he said, isn't located in the same area as that ligament (UCL).
'That’s kind of the reason why I felt confident in pushing through it," Antone said. "It’s in a different area. It’s just some soreness and I’ll work through it. ... It’s purely just inflammation. That’s just really what it is. There’s no true injury along with it."
Antone, who holds a 1.41 ERA across 20 relief appearances this season, will dial back his volume and intensity on throwing over the next few days, but he will not be shut down from throwing completely.
Lucas Sims, who gave up two hits and a run after he entered in the sixth inning Thursday, will highlight the back end of the bullpen. Others will need to step up to fill Antone's absence for the next week.
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The Reds' bullpen owns a 5.88 ERA this season (the Rockies have the second-highest ERA at 5.45) and it has walked the second-most batters in the Majors. Take out Antone and the team's bullpen ERA is 6.58.
"There are just some things that we’re all working on," Antone said. "I think that down the road, down the stretch, when it actually matters, it will show up. That’s when we’re going to come together as a team and stop teams from scoring later in the games and be that dominant team that we actually think we are."
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