Big leaguers need reminders to stretch, too. Just ask Reds' Williamson

This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CINCINNATI -- The advice Brandon Williamson received earlier this year was not stretching the truth or a stretch of the imagination. But it seemed almost too simple for the Reds' left-handed starting pitcher.

Stretch your shoulder more. A lot more.

After he pitched brilliantly in Spring Training, the myriad arm issues that have dogged Williamson crept into his 2026 season when he went on the injured list on April 30 with left shoulder fatigue.

Team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Tim Kremchek put Williamson in touch with veteran lefty Jose Quintana, who is currently with the Rockies.

"He said he had the same issue," Williamson said Monday while at Great American Ball Park for treatment. "We got on a phone call, and he was like, ‘Dude, you have to stretch. Multiple times, every day.’ He had the same thing where his shoulder just got tight. It would eventually get painful, but most of the time it was like, ‘Dang, I’m not loose. I can’t let it go how I want.’

"I was the same way. Keep those muscles loose and long, really. He’s like, ‘I just started stretching three times a day early on in my career, and I’ve never had problems.’”

Williamson, 28, pitched the fourth game (third start) of his rehab assignment on Sunday for Triple-A Louisville. He allowed one run and five hits with no walks and two strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings vs. Toledo, while throwing 63 pitches (47 strikes).

“Everything was kind of on," Williamson said. "Nothing was exceptional, but everything was in the zone for strikes, and I felt pretty [good] about the outing. I wasn’t relying on a pitch to get ahead. I kind of had everything.

“I pitched in the way of, ‘Anything at any time.’ That’s when I really throw my best. It was hard to know what was coming because I was throwing so many strikes with so many different pitches.”

Overall, Williamson has a 6.48 ERA with Louisville and Double-A Chattanooga, where he made his first start. His next start for Louisville is scheduled for Friday at Indianapolis.

“I feel great," he said. "I feel this whole time I’m trying to recreate the kind of feeling I had in Spring Training. The velocity is maybe not quite there, but everything else has been pretty quality. The first couple were a little rusty, which is maybe to be expected.”

In 2024, Williamson opened on the IL with a left shoulder strain, and then developed a lesion in the shoulder while on his rehab assignment. In his fourth game that season, Sept. 17, 2024, vs. the Braves, he suffered a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow and missed all of 2025.

Williamson, who debuted in 2023, had a 1.65 ERA in five spring games this year and earned a spot in the Opening Day rotation. But he went 2-3 with a 6.11 ERA in six starts for Cincinnati before going on the IL.

On April 29 vs. the Rockies, Williamson exited after three innings with four runs and four walks on his ledger.

"When I came out, I told them [that] my elbow feels horrible. So they checked out my elbow, and my elbow was fine," Williamson said. "It was that my shoulder was so tight that I was having to put all the stress on my elbow."

With Quintana and Kremchek's advice in hand, Williamson began the rehabilitation process at the Reds’ player development complex in Goodyear, Ariz.

“We just stretched and stretched and stretched and stretched," he said. "Three times a day, I had my shoulder stretched. It finally got to the point where I could freely get to the slot that I wanted. … Once I got my shoulder opened up, I was able to re-strengthen it. Everything was good from there.”

If Williamson can complete his rehab assignment successfully, his return could help the Reds considerably. The club is already working without Hunter Greene, who underwent Tommy John surgery last week and will be out for all of 2027. Nick Lodolo, who has been plagued by blister issues, is still trying to put it all together two starts into his latest return from the IL. And Cincinnati's best pitcher, All-Star Chase Burns, is having his workload managed as he tries to finish the season.

“I’m going to do whatever I can, the best that I can," Williamson said. "I’m not saying I will be a [shot] in the arm everybody needs, but I will do exactly my best. I’m going to try to win every game I play in and be a good teammate the rest of the time. Hopefully, I’m at least a positive effect.”