Reds Beat: Sure and Steady Brandon Williamson Plans To ‘Get On That Plane’ To Cincinnati And Be A Big Part of Reds Pitching In 2026

Brandon Williamson has no other plans for the start of the season other than to be on the plane from Milwaukee that transports the 26-man roster to Cincinnati for the start of the 2026 season.

Williamson has every intention of proving he belongs in the math equation that Terry Francona, pitching coach Derek Johnson, executives Nick Krall and Brad Meador are currently figuring out for the opening series against Boston, and beyond.

The path from a promising rookie season in 2023 to his current 2026 comeback has been a grueling journey defined by medical setbacks and personal resilience. After enduring a fragmented 2024 season, Williamson’s rehab from Tommy John surgery has transformed him both physically and mentally.

The Injury That Derailed a Comeback
Williamson’s troubles began long before his elbow gave way. After a solid 2023 debut where he posted a 4.46 ERA in 23 starts, he entered 2024 as a rotation staple. However, a left shoulder strain in spring training sidelined him immediately. His initial rehab was plagued by a “Bennett lesion” on his shoulder ligament, which he chose to treat with injections to avoid season-ending surgery.

He finally returned to the Reds on Sept. 1, 2024, looking dominant with a 2.08 ERA through his first three appearances. Disaster struck on September 17 during his fourth start against the Atlanta Braves. In the second inning, after throwing a changeup, he felt a “tweak” followed by immediate pain on his next pitch. A subsequent MRI revealed a full tear of his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), necessitating Tommy John surgery.

The Arduous Rehab of 2025
The 2025 season was a “lost year” on the field but a pivotal one in the training room. Williamson spent the entire year on the 60-day injured list, following the standard 12-to-15-month Tommy John recovery timeline. The process was not without its hurdles; in August 2025, his throwing program was briefly paused after he felt excessive stress while throwing from a mound, forcing him to “throttle back” for several weeks.

During this time, Williamson found perspective through his family. He credited his wife and mother as his “rocks,” noting that his mother’s repeated battles with cancer made his own rehab struggles feel manageable. He used the forced downtime to study the “art of pitching”—sequencing and reading hitters—since he couldn’t rely on physical power.

A Power Surge in 2026
As of March 2026, the rehab has yielded surprising physical results. Now fully healthy and participating in spring training without restrictions, Williamson has seen a significant jump in his velocity. Before the surgery, his fastball typically sat around 91 mph; in early 2026 bullpen sessions, he was already touching the mid-90s.

Velocity Increase and Mechanical Adjustments
Williamson’s 2026 repertoire has shown demonstrative improvement compared to his pre-surgery form, thanks in large part to rehab and his off-season work at a pitching lab. Consider this spring:

Fastball Velocity:

While he averaged 92.5 mph in 2023 and 93.1 mph in limited 2024 action, he has consistently reached 94-96 mph this spring.

Rotational Force:

Working with Maven, a pitching lab, Williamson cleaned up his mechanics to generate more rotational force in his windup.

Arsenal Upgrades:

His cutter velocity has ticked up to sit at 90 mph (up from 87-88 mph), and his 83 mph curveball is showing increased vertical drop.

Williamson currently has two minor-league options remaining, which may influence the final roster decision if the Reds prioritize easing his workload after nearly two years away from competitive play.

How good does this spring feel for Williamson after the last three years?

“Yeah, it feels like it’s added up to what I thought the work would add up to,” Williamson told me. “It’s been validating, where it’s been a long time of no gratification, and it’s kind of all kind of came together at the right time.”

The important thing for Williamson last year was not to rush the process. This spring he’s been rewarded with very positive results. Heading into Sunday’s start against Seattle he was 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in three appearances and one start. He allowed two runs on four hits over seven innings. Most impressively, he struck out nine and walked just one, pitching to a WHIP of 0.71 and an opponents’ batting average of .160.

“Yeah, my first few bullpens, I felt so good, and I rushed a little bit there, and it was just the perfect little quick lesson that you’ve got to do things right, do things slow, take the extra time. And in my scenario, I had, I had a few extra months just because I blew out in September (2024) and came back and didn’t have to pitch the next year. So, you know, those extra few months were critical, and I feel like I used them pretty well.”

“He’s got, like a five-pitch mix, or four depending on the cutter. His breaking ball is very slow, but it spins tight,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “He’s got mid-90s velocity at times. He’s a 6-6 lefty. Love that. There’s a lot to like. I think our biggest challenge is probably his too. ‘Hey, I’m getting on a five-day (rotation), because you come back from a surgery like that, and one day you feel pretty good. Next day, it’s like trying to navigate getting that routine, and that’s just going to take some time. It’s not his fault. He done a great job.”

There have been two significant injuries that could factor into Williamson’s presence on the 26-man roster to start the season: Hunter Greene’s arthroscopic surgery on bone spurs in his right elbow and Caleb Ferguson’s right oblique strain. On the other hand, Williamson, himself, is coming off his own 18-month grind and the club may want to not put too much on his plate at the start, something to consider with a pitch that has two minor league options remaining. Those scenarios haven’t entered his mind. He’s focused on one thing – getting on that plane to Cincinnati for Opening Day.

“I’m getting on the plane,” Williamson declared. “That’s all I’ll say, is I’m going to get on the plane. I think I’m one of the best 13 players, those 13 pitchers that we have, and whether Tito sees that (role) as whatever he sees it as, I will do. But I think that first step is getting on the plane.”

“The best way is to answer, probably, we got to look out for his best interest,” Francona answered. “Also, it’s not just having the best 26 on March whatever.”

The Williamson question is one of the biggest about the pitching staff to be decided to start the season. Will the Reds play it cautious or will they think the left-hander is fully healthy and ready to help the Reds over the course of a seven-month campaign?

One of the crucial keys to Williamson’s sure and steady rehab has been his physical therapy staff that has watched him like a hawk over the last 18 months, led by Eric Gonzalez. Gonzalez serves as the club’s Director of Rehab and Physical Therapy. He is a former professional baseball player who reached the Triple-A level before obtaining his doctorate in Physical Therapy.

“Getting back to this point, if you had to point to one or two aspects, I’ve had a lot of lot of good help,” Williamson said. “Eric and a lot of our PTs have been awesome to work with. And I would say that physicality has allowed me to do more things that I want to be able to do and am capable of doing, but physically, I wasn’t strong enough to do some things, and I wasn’t durable enough. Working with Eric a lot has only made my arm healthier and stronger, but it’s just given me more of a freedom to go play.”

Williamson is now part of the competition to be part of a staff that expects to be pitching into October. There’s obviously a ton of work to do over the course of the next seven months but the 27-year-old left-hander believes he’s ready to be part of that push. Last year, he just watched from a distance as the Reds scratched and clawed their way to the postseason.

“I was pretty hands off, to be honest,” Williamson said. “I wasn’t involved a ton, just because I was in Arizona the whole time. But from a distance, it was really fun to watch a group that I came up with, a lot of these players, and obviously became close with a lot of them. So it was awesome to see it all be put together and we go to the playoffs.”

Ask anyone on a season-long rehab to get back to being part of a team and they’ll tell you that’s the hardest part, doing the work away from the team and feeling a bit like being on an island.

“I miss it a lot, and it made me work, because I want to be a part of something like that,” Williamson said. “I don’t think anybody checked the box and said, ‘Okay, we’ve been in the playoffs.’ Everybody’s like, ‘That was awesome and we want to keep going in the playoffs, not just get there.'”

Williamson is also more than aware that the Reds haven’t won a playoff series since 1995, the longest playoff series win drought in the sport.

“I think we all want to be a part of that. It’s set up for us to be a part of something really cool.”