Tejay Antone had not thrown a big league pitch in over two years before returning to the mound this weekend. Michael Mariot, meanwhile, had not pitched at the game’s highest level since 2016 before helping bail out the Cincinnati Reds during yesterday’s bullpen game.
With respect to Antone, who was always hopeful to return this time of the year as a bullpen guy, neither was supposed to be here like this. Antone was tasked with starting yesterday as the team labors through losing each of Hunter Greene, Ben Lively, and Brandon Williamson to the COVID list while stress reactions have shelved both Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft for the near future, too.