SEATTLE -- Reds reliever Tejay Antone is not an orthopedic surgeon and can't perform Tommy John surgery on an elbow. But if anybody has become an expert about recovering from the procedure, it's him. Antone has come back from three of them.
He returned to the big leagues in May following a lengthy comeback effort from surgery No. 3, which was done in 2024 and had him seriously considering retirement. Not only did the 32-year-old right-hander return this season, Antone has been a dependable arm in Cincinnati's bullpen despite no longer having triple-digit velocity or a killer curveball.
On Friday, Antone released his first published book, “The Tommy John Protocol." It's both a memoir and an instructional guide about recovering from the ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery that many pitchers of all ages endure.
In an interview with MLB.com, Antone discussed writing the book and what he hopes readers get from it.
Portions of the interview were edited for length and clarity.
MLB.com: What was it like to see the physical, actual published book in your hands when it arrived?
Tejay Antone: I ordered the author proof to the hotel in Milwaukee when we played them a few weeks back. And I literally skipped the bus to the field because the Amazon delivery was coming and I wanted to see it so bad. It was really cool to see a book come together that I wrote. My editor obviously helped me with the cover and the formatting into the book style. It felt like a really big project coming to completion.
MLB.com: How long did it take to complete from the genesis of your idea to the final draft being submitted?
Antone: I think probably 18-24 months, give or take. I started right around the middle of summer in 2024, and then just kept kind of chopping away at it. It's been with the editor since around Spring Training. A lot of edits. I'm not a writer at heart. She had a lot of changes and just clarifying questions like, 'Hey, can you add more detail here about how you're feeling in this moment?' Little areas of what the reader would want, especially the monologue or memoir part. It was interesting and a lot of fun.
It was a little bit therapeutic to go back through my career so far. One of the things I'm most excited about is my boys will get to read it some day and read and learn about my whole career.
MLB.com: You didn't use a ghostwriter. Did you do it all on the computer, put pen to paper or write an outline?
Antone: I wrote it all myself. I used Google Docs on the computer. I had to have a place where I could type and get the misspelled words underlined and stuff like that.
MLB.com: How many hours per day did you put into it?
Antone: I would write when I felt inspired to write, when it was like, 'Oooh, I need to write about that.' If something was hot on my mind, it might take 30-45 minutes to get it written down. It might take four hours. There were some really big stretches where I was sitting down and just grinding away at a chapter or a section and trying to get it right. Then I may take a couple of days off and let it sit and then come back to it. It was a lot of writing and rewriting and editing. I'd ask my wife, 'What do you think of this?' and just go through it like that.
MLB.com: What's the one thing about the journey of Tommy John surgery -- injury to recovery to returning -- that you hope people get from the book? Everyone hears the words 'Tommy John surgery' and they have a certain perception of maybe what it means. You've lived it three times.
Antone: I hope it inspires people to take a trial in their life and to flip it on its head and figure out what they can get out of that trial versus what is the trial doing to me in the present moment, or woe is me and how bad is this situation? It's OK I'm in this moment but what can I get out of this? What can I learn from this? It's just changing perspectives of a trial or a down spot like an injury in your career and being able to learn from it and grow from it while being challenged from it and coming out a better human on the other side.
MLB.com: What's the biggest thing you learned, especially from surgery No. 3?
Antone: Even if I know how to come back from Tommy John surgery myself, the body still takes time to heal. I knew that but that process held over me while going through it the third time. The competitor in me wanted to come back and have a full season in '25 but it kept taking time. It's learning over and over to just trust the process and be where my feet are at and do each day to the best of my abilities.
MLB.com: How does it feel to get a happy ending to this story, beyond the book, to be a contributing member of the bullpen again?
Antone: Amazing. You don't know what kind of pitcher you'll be on the back side of it. You obviously want to be the best version of yourself. Process-wise, you can be but you don't get to pick your results. It's been amazing to be back in the bullpen, contributing to this team and helping us win games. It's just been an honor. I can't thank the Reds enough for just giving me the opportunity. It's all you can ask for as an athlete. To be doing it at the highest level is really special.