Tyler Callihan's gruesome injury was cruel and devastating

ATLANTA — The best way to describe the prospects who earn invites to big league spring training during the first few days of camp is calling them dreamers. When these kids are experiencing the new thrill of being in a big league clubhouse, they buzz about their goals for the upcoming season.

In interviews in February, it’s common to hear these prospects talk about their expectations to immediately become impact big leaguers, enter the Rookie of the Year race and even win the World Series.

An exception to this rule was Tyler Callihan. When I spoke to him at the start of spring training this year, he had one goal for 2025.

Stay out of Arizona.

The Reds send players who are rehabbing from significant injuries back to the team’s spring training facility, and Callihan had spent more than his fair share of time there during the regular season over the course of his professional career. Arguably no one in the Reds’ organization has had worse injury luck than Callihan.

Entering 2025, he was knocking on the door of his big league debut. He had shown the flashes to be able to dream about making an impact as a big league regular in 2025. But all that he really wanted this year was to stay healthy and just play. So much time and so many games have been unfairly ripped away from him over the last seven seasons

That background made what happened on Monday at Truist Park even more devastating.

Trying to make a diving catch into the left field wall on the sixth day of his big league career, Callihan broke his forearm in multiple places on Monday in a 4-0 loss to the Braves. Now, the rookie is heading back to Cincinnati to have surgery. He has a long road of rehab ahead of him.

Whenever he’s ready to resume baseball activities, he’ll have to go back to Arizona.

“There’s no good way to explain it,” Terry Francona said. “The kid is running full bast trying to do everything he can to save runs. I asked TJ (Friedl) because he was the first one there. He said it was so bad. We’ll get him fixed up. He’s young. He’ll be ok. It’s just going to take him a little while.”

The Reds drafted Callihan in the third-round of the 2019 MLB Draft, which was the same year that they drafted Nick Lodolo. Over the last seven seasons, Callihan has played a total of 418 professional games, averaging fewer than 60 games per season.

Callihan has spent most of his professional career in Arizona. The injuries have all been fluky and cruel.

In 2020, Callihan didn’t get to play because of the pandemic.

In 2021, he strained his elbow underwent Tommy John surgery.

Here’s the wildest part of the story. In 2022, on the day that he officially returned from Tommy John surgery, he got into a car wreck and tore the UCL of his thumb. He was back on the injured list.

Callihan had a healthy 2023. In 2024, he broke his finger trying to bunt and missed two months.

Then on Monday, he crushed his forearm against the left field wall in Atlanta.

“He plays the game hard,” TJ Friedl said. “In the short time he was up here, he played the game hard. He played the game the right way. To see that, it’s tough.”

“It was gruesome to watch,” said Reds starting pitcher Brady Singer.

Callihan has spent most of his baseball life as an infielder. Then in 2024, with Callihan in Double-A and having a clearer path toward big league playing time in the outfield, he started working in the outfield. He said earlier this year that he would have called you crazy if you told him in 2024 that he’d be making his big league debut in the outfield, but that’s exactly what happened last Wednesday.

Every day since then, Callihan has been taking extra reps during pregame warmups in left field. Outfield coach Collin Cowgill has brought out a tee to home plate and hit one line drive after another at Callihan so the rookie could get more comfortable out there.

For a split second in the third inning on Monday, it looked like Callihan was making the diving catch. In that moment, Cowgill pumped both of his fists in the air in celebration.

But then, the ball spilled out of Callihan’s glove, and he rolled around on the ground in shock.

The left field corner at Truist Park is hard to see from the dugout, and Francona couldn’t tell right away the severity of what had happened. The look on Friedl’s face told the story. While the play was still live, Reds’ trainers were running out to left field.

“Looking at TJ’s reaction, you know it’s not good,” Francona said. “You’re human. You’ve got to care. He’s such a good kid. We feel terrible for him.”

Francona challenged the call, but replay review confirmed that the call on the field stood on an inside-the-park homer from Matt Olson. Because Callihan wasn’t able to transfer the ball out of his glove hand, he wasn’t granted the catch.

“Once I realized the play was still live and they came around and scored, I ran up to the umpire in anger,” Friedl said. “It just doesn’t make sense. From my perspective, the guy catches the ball. His glove hand breaks. And the fact that he can’t transfer the ball from his glove hand to his throwing hand is the reason that’s a hit. That’s a bit ridiculous.”

Friedl continued, “The rules are the rules. That’s something we have to figure out about that rule. If a guy breaks his glove hand that he’s supposed to transfer to his throwing hand, he can’t really do that. There has to be some sort of limit to the actions of what can and can’t be a catch.”

Callihan left it all on the line, and the two-out catch should have been his first big moment in the big leagues.

Callihan, a Jacksonville native who was on his first big league road trip, had 20-plus friends and family members at the game. The 24-year-old was getting his shot to show what he could do and prove that he belongs.

Injuries to Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Jeimer Candelario and Austin Hays plus a mini slump by Noelvi Marte opened up a spot in the lineup for Callihan. He’s an aggressive hitter with a natural feel for making contact, and he has hit whenever he has been healthy.

Since Callihan had been healthy for a long stretch going back to last summer, he had been in a real rhythm. Following a strong spring training, Callihan posted a .938 OPS in Triple-A before earning his call-up to MLB. He was going to get a shot to show what he could do against right-handed pitching.

In devastating fashion, that opportunity got ripped away from him.

“I’ll take guys like that on the field every single day,” Singer said. “I’m really appreciative for his effort. I hope he’s ok.”