If you caught Monday night’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves, you witnessed a scary moment when Tyler Callihan crashed into the wall in foul territory down the left field line. If you missed it, you might be glad — the outcome wasn’t pretty. The Reds rookie had to exit the game following the play, which was ruled an inside-the-park home run.
It was clear immediately that Callihan had suffered a serious injury, and the team confirmed about an hour later that he had broken his arm. After the game, the news became more concerning. Manager Terry Francona informed reporters that Callihan had sustained multiple fractures and would return to Cincinnati for surgery, according to Mark Sheldon of Reds.com.
Monday marked just the fourth major league game of Callihan’s career. He had gone hitless in a doubleheader against St. Louis (0-for-3) but notched his first MLB hit on Saturday against the Nationals. In his first plate appearance Monday, with Jake Fraley on third and the game tied, Callihan connected on a 3-1 fastball from Trevor Williams, lining it into center field.
A third-round selection in the 2019 draft, Callihan will now be sidelined for the foreseeable future. There’s no estimated return date yet, as that will depend on how his surgery goes and what doctors find.
Update (May 6):
Mark Sheldon has reported that Callihan underwent successful surgery on Tuesday. He’s expected to avoid baseball activity for 6–8 weeks, meaning the soonest he could return would be in 8–10 weeks — assuming only a short ramp-up period is needed after rehab begins.
