GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Up until now, the story of Brandon Williamson’s tenure in the Cincinnati Reds’ organization has been trying to find a way around an achy left shoulder.
His shoulder was the biggest reason why he had a down year in 2022, when he was a top-100 prospect on the verge of his big league debut.
His shoulder changed the way he pitched in 2023, when he made adjustments on the fly in the big leagues and reverse engineered a way to become the Reds’ most consistent pitcher that year.
His shoulder kept him out in 2024 from the end of March until the start of September. And then, he admits now, his shoulder issues led to tearing the UCL muscle in his elbow and missing the entire 2025 season.
“The shoulder got tired, and it made me drop (my arm slot) down a bit,” Williamson said. “That put extra stress on my elbow. The shoulder was the thing that kicked off my elbow. At the time, I didn’t want to think like that. Now, I think my shoulder was the reason my elbow went.”
Williamson is fully healthy this spring. While my roster projection has Chase Burns winning the battle for the fifth spot in the rotation, Williamson is a contender. Regardless on if he wins the battle or not, starting pitching depth has never been more important in MLB. Williamson will get his chance at some point in 2026.
When he gets it, you’ll see an entirely different style of pitcher than you saw in 2023.
“I was pitching close to my floor in 2023 because my arm, even then, was just not what it is now,” Williamson said. “It’s not what is has been in the past because my shoulder was achy. It was protect mode when I’d throw. Now, I can elevate my game with being able to let the ball go. I don’t have to protect it.”
Since the end of the 2023 season, Williamson has pitched in four total big league games (all in September of 2024). He has spent the last two-and-a-half years effectively doing nothing but rehabbing his shoulder and his elbow.
“We did so much shoulder rehab that you couldn’t possible have done any more,” Williamson said. “It’s built up stronger. I don’t feel it when I throw anymore. I don’t go home and ache. I’m hoping it’s gone. I’m not a fortune teller. But we’ve given it the best chance to be healthy.”
The last time that we really saw Williamson in the big leagues, in 2023, he saved a Reds’ rotation that was on the verge of running out of pitching. The team called him up in May even though Williamson wasn’t pitching well in Triple-A. His shoulder wasn’t feeling great, so he wasn’t generating the swings and misses that he’s capable of.
The Reds targeted Williamson as the headliner of the Eugenio Suárez trade back in 2022 because of Williamson’s track record as a strikeout pitcher. As a minor leaguer with the Mariners in 2021, Williamson posted the fifth-best strikeout rate in all of Minor League Baseball by fanning 14 batters per nine innings. He had an elite fastball for a left-handed pitching prospect combined with a wicked curveball that was a change of pace weapon.
Because of his shoulder, Williamson couldn’t really lean into those pitches in 2023. As a result, he says, he was pitching close to his floor.
He made some adjustments and found a cutter-slider combo that worked for him. Williamson got outs in 2023, made 23 starts and had some big moments for a Reds team that finished the year with a winning record.
Then in spring training of 2024, the shoulder issue got so bad that he considered getting shoulder surgery. He opened the year on the IL and rehabbed from March through the middle of August.
On Aug. 27, he started a rehab assignment and pitched 2 ⅔ innings in Louisville. Meanwhile, Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo all suffered injuries and went on the IL. The Reds suddenly literally didn’t have a starting rotation — they were out of healthy starting pitching — and the coaching staff and front office were crossing their fingers every night that the team would be able to piece together nine innings.
The Reds were desperate. On Sept. 1, they activated Williamson from the IL. He only had one rehab start under his belt as he came back from an injury that had kept him on the shelf all season. It’s the most surprised I’ve been in recent memory to see a player get activated off the IL.
Williamson pitched in four big league games and posted a 3.77 ERA. On Sept. 17, his elbow blew out.
“If I wasn’t pitching well at the time, I probably would have shut it down (earlier),” Williamson said. “But to be pitching the way I was, I thought my shoulder could only be so wrong if my performance was this good. If my performance went down, (I’d think) there was something wrong. Hindsight is 20-20. If I’d have known I’d blow my elbow out, I probably would have stopped. But I was still performing. How do you stop?”
He got surgery and missed the entire 2025 season.
That gave him a full year to strengthen his shoulder and his elbow. He says that he used that time to “adapt” his game.
The next time that you see him on the mound, Williamson says that the biggest difference you’ll notice is with his velocity. In 2023, his fastball sat around 91 mph. This year, even though it’s the first week of spring and he’s early in his build-up process, he’s already sitting in the mid-90s.
In 2023, Williamson said that he always had to pitch “slow-to-fast,” using off-speed pitches to set up his fastball. Now, he can also pitch “fast-to-slow,” getting ahead with his fastball and using off-speed pitches to finish at-bats with strikeouts. He only struck out 7.5 batters per nine innings in 2023, and that number should be better this year.
“Now, I can pitch in two different ways,” Williamson said. “That gives me more of an arsenal to attack a more diverse group of hitters.”
His development continued during the offseason with a trip to Maven, a pitching lab. They gave him a few keys to clean up some things mechanically. He found a way to create more rotational force in his windup, which generates more velocity. He showcased that during a live batting practice session on Wednesday as he blew a fastball past Eugenio Suárez.
“I can throw better stuff,” Williamson said. “That’s sheerly what it is. Better stuff. I’m looking forward to that type of pitching again. I’m going to use my pitchability and my brain and think through at-bats with deep thought. Now, I can also get away with throwing stuff as hard as I can.”
When he was hurt and had to lean more on the art of pitching, Williamson said that he learned about sequencing, reading hitters and setting up pitches. Now, he can combine those lessons with more strength and better stuff.
“You have to adapt to all of the things the game throws at you,” Williamson said. “Now that my arm is healthy, I know how to pitch, and I have a healthy arm.”
He hasn’t been able to say that until now. And as he says it, there’s a big smile on his face.
After missing nearly two full seasons, Williamson gets a chance to compete again. It’s an opportunity to show what he’s fully capable of.
“I reminded (him), you’re young once,” Terry Francona said. “You’ve worked your (tail) off. Just embrace and enjoy competing.”